duncan228
02-12-2009, 04:53 PM
Different mix, but same results for championship-contending Spurs (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/ian_thomsen/02/12/spurs/index.html)
Ian Thomsen
SI.com
Story Highlights
Expect Tim Duncan and the Spurs to contend for another NBA title this spring
Manu Ginobili is regaining his form; Roger Mason and Matt Bonner have helped
The Spurs have used the three-point shot to great effect in their offense
The secondary characters go on changing while the script is updated and revised. But the result remains the same as always: The San Antonio Spurs are going to be in contention for another championship -- potentially Tim Duncan's fifth -- this spring.
"The same thing every year,'' the Lakers' Kobe Bryant said. "With them, it's Groundhog Day. They have incredible coaching, incredible players, extremely disciplined, solid defensively. You know what you're going to get from them, you know they're going to be there at the end. It's just as simple as that.''
The Spurs defined themselves as the Lakers' main challenger in the West with a 105-99 comeback win Sunday at Boston. A win here or there means little in this league, but this particular victory resonated with the Spurs' larger body of work over the last decade. They've gone 15-5 in the New Year to move into second place in conference, percentage points ahead of the Nuggets, while reviving their long-established trend of improving toward the playoffs.
They beat the defending champion Celtics with an 8-0 run in the last 45 seconds that underlined two major improvements since last year. The first being the return to health of 31-year-old Manu Ginobili. He pickpocketed an inbounds pass from Ray Allen in the final minute Sunday and made four ensuing free throws to open up a 99-93 lead. In his last seven games, Ginobili has averaged 22.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.4 steals, which is a relief to San Antonio. His left ankle injury limited the Spurs last spring in their 4-1 conference finals loss to the Lakers, and he missed the opening four weeks this season while recovering from surgery.
"Over the last month, he's really improved,'' coach Gregg Popovich said. "Before that, he was not penetrating, and he was taking ill-advised shots because he didn't have confidence in his foot. The last three weeks he's been instrumental in our wins, both with his jump shot and taking it to the bucket and being active at the rim. He's very close to being where he was [before the injury].''
The importance of Ginobili's return is more obvious than the other big improvement in this Spurs team, which became apparent Sunday as his more famous teammates watched guard Roger Mason pull up for an early-shot-clock three-pointer with 20 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. It put the Spurs ahead for good at 95-93 while demonstrating once more the newfound vitality of their rotation.
It is no small feat that Popovich has instantly recycled his lineup while keeping the Spurs on pace to win 56 games this year. The Spurs are younger because of new contributors like Mason, a cheap free-agent signing from Washington, who has already made huge go-ahead jumpers (including a trio of threes) to win four games in the final minute. He's a big reason the Spurs are 9-3 in games decided by three points or fewer.
Since he became a starter Dec. 2, hybrid center Matt Bonner has averaged 9.3 points and 5.4 rebounds. He's shooting 49 percent overall from the three-point line to help space the floor and exploit the defensive collapses created by Duncan, Tony Parker and Ginobili. Rookie George Hill, the No. 26 pick of the draft (and the No. 1 choice of the Celtics, had he been available for them at No. 30), has become a valuable all-around piece of the rotation. Robert Horry and Brent Barry are gone, 35-year-old Michael Finley (9.2 points) looks more nimble after slimming down, and a lesser role befitting his age has been given to 37-year-old small forward Bruce Bowen. Bowen, however, remains available to occasionally shut down opposing stars like New Jersey's Vince Carter, who was held to four points over the majority of the second half in the Spurs' road win Tuesday.
The Spurs have altered their formula. Duncan, 32, has naturally lost some mobility, and today he's more of a center and less of a power forward, which is not to say he's no longer relevant. He's just playing to a different style, and the shooters surrounding him -- the Spurs rate No. 2 in three-point shooting overall, with Bonner and Mason ranking among the league top 10 in accuracy -- are contributing to that style. They rank a mediocre 13th in field-goal defense (45.8 percent), but that number should reduce as Popovich bears down on the finer details.
One approach that hasn't changed is Popovich's insistence on pacing his team through the season in preparation for the playoffs, as he did recently in Denver when he rested his three stars in addition to Finley. The Spurs' character actors and understudies still made a tight game of it before losing 104-96.
"Everyone made such a big deal of that,'' Popovich said. "But it was like a perfect storm. Manu had just got beat up the night before and he already had a contusion on his hip, he could hardly walk that morning. Michael Finley was fighting back spasms the last four games. We were on a long road trip, we were coming off a back-to-back and didn't get in until 4 in the morning, and the last time we played Denver we beat them by 20 at their place. As for Tim, I'd already decided I needed to get him two nights off and I couldn't do it a week before when his knee was already stiff. So now I've got Fin, Manu and Tim sitting out, and under the circumstances how smart would it be to have Tony Parker pour his guts out on the floor considering the way we'd beat Denver the time before?
"At least I didn't say this guy has a sore thumb or something. I just didn't give any reason at all for it, but everybody rests their guys all of the time because they say they have a 'bad back.' Well, I could have said that too ... but I thought given all of the circumstances it just isn't smart to play them, and this way I could look at the young kids and get to play Malik Hairston and those guys, and they gained experience they wouldn't have had otherwise.''
As important as it will be to avoid playing the Lakers until the conference finals, Popovich's priority is to convoy his team into the playoffs in the best possible health.
"One would never turn it down, that would be foolish,'' Popovich said of a No. 1 or 2 seed. "But if I overplay Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili to the point that they're exhausted come playoff time to get the No. 1 seed, then we're not going anywhere. I have to continue doing what I do as far as pacing it.
"Obviously, L.A. in the West and Boston and Cleveland in the East are the class of the league right now. Anything can happen, but those are the people you have to chase. The rest of us are a step behind them, and if the playoffs were today, I'd bet on L.A. and Boston or Cleveland, one or the other. But we think we've got room to improve, and we have some young people who are going to get better. I really enjoy this group because of the additions of the young kids, and we're going to keep trying to get better knowing full well that the Lakers are the team to catch.''
Ian Thomsen
SI.com
Story Highlights
Expect Tim Duncan and the Spurs to contend for another NBA title this spring
Manu Ginobili is regaining his form; Roger Mason and Matt Bonner have helped
The Spurs have used the three-point shot to great effect in their offense
The secondary characters go on changing while the script is updated and revised. But the result remains the same as always: The San Antonio Spurs are going to be in contention for another championship -- potentially Tim Duncan's fifth -- this spring.
"The same thing every year,'' the Lakers' Kobe Bryant said. "With them, it's Groundhog Day. They have incredible coaching, incredible players, extremely disciplined, solid defensively. You know what you're going to get from them, you know they're going to be there at the end. It's just as simple as that.''
The Spurs defined themselves as the Lakers' main challenger in the West with a 105-99 comeback win Sunday at Boston. A win here or there means little in this league, but this particular victory resonated with the Spurs' larger body of work over the last decade. They've gone 15-5 in the New Year to move into second place in conference, percentage points ahead of the Nuggets, while reviving their long-established trend of improving toward the playoffs.
They beat the defending champion Celtics with an 8-0 run in the last 45 seconds that underlined two major improvements since last year. The first being the return to health of 31-year-old Manu Ginobili. He pickpocketed an inbounds pass from Ray Allen in the final minute Sunday and made four ensuing free throws to open up a 99-93 lead. In his last seven games, Ginobili has averaged 22.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.4 steals, which is a relief to San Antonio. His left ankle injury limited the Spurs last spring in their 4-1 conference finals loss to the Lakers, and he missed the opening four weeks this season while recovering from surgery.
"Over the last month, he's really improved,'' coach Gregg Popovich said. "Before that, he was not penetrating, and he was taking ill-advised shots because he didn't have confidence in his foot. The last three weeks he's been instrumental in our wins, both with his jump shot and taking it to the bucket and being active at the rim. He's very close to being where he was [before the injury].''
The importance of Ginobili's return is more obvious than the other big improvement in this Spurs team, which became apparent Sunday as his more famous teammates watched guard Roger Mason pull up for an early-shot-clock three-pointer with 20 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. It put the Spurs ahead for good at 95-93 while demonstrating once more the newfound vitality of their rotation.
It is no small feat that Popovich has instantly recycled his lineup while keeping the Spurs on pace to win 56 games this year. The Spurs are younger because of new contributors like Mason, a cheap free-agent signing from Washington, who has already made huge go-ahead jumpers (including a trio of threes) to win four games in the final minute. He's a big reason the Spurs are 9-3 in games decided by three points or fewer.
Since he became a starter Dec. 2, hybrid center Matt Bonner has averaged 9.3 points and 5.4 rebounds. He's shooting 49 percent overall from the three-point line to help space the floor and exploit the defensive collapses created by Duncan, Tony Parker and Ginobili. Rookie George Hill, the No. 26 pick of the draft (and the No. 1 choice of the Celtics, had he been available for them at No. 30), has become a valuable all-around piece of the rotation. Robert Horry and Brent Barry are gone, 35-year-old Michael Finley (9.2 points) looks more nimble after slimming down, and a lesser role befitting his age has been given to 37-year-old small forward Bruce Bowen. Bowen, however, remains available to occasionally shut down opposing stars like New Jersey's Vince Carter, who was held to four points over the majority of the second half in the Spurs' road win Tuesday.
The Spurs have altered their formula. Duncan, 32, has naturally lost some mobility, and today he's more of a center and less of a power forward, which is not to say he's no longer relevant. He's just playing to a different style, and the shooters surrounding him -- the Spurs rate No. 2 in three-point shooting overall, with Bonner and Mason ranking among the league top 10 in accuracy -- are contributing to that style. They rank a mediocre 13th in field-goal defense (45.8 percent), but that number should reduce as Popovich bears down on the finer details.
One approach that hasn't changed is Popovich's insistence on pacing his team through the season in preparation for the playoffs, as he did recently in Denver when he rested his three stars in addition to Finley. The Spurs' character actors and understudies still made a tight game of it before losing 104-96.
"Everyone made such a big deal of that,'' Popovich said. "But it was like a perfect storm. Manu had just got beat up the night before and he already had a contusion on his hip, he could hardly walk that morning. Michael Finley was fighting back spasms the last four games. We were on a long road trip, we were coming off a back-to-back and didn't get in until 4 in the morning, and the last time we played Denver we beat them by 20 at their place. As for Tim, I'd already decided I needed to get him two nights off and I couldn't do it a week before when his knee was already stiff. So now I've got Fin, Manu and Tim sitting out, and under the circumstances how smart would it be to have Tony Parker pour his guts out on the floor considering the way we'd beat Denver the time before?
"At least I didn't say this guy has a sore thumb or something. I just didn't give any reason at all for it, but everybody rests their guys all of the time because they say they have a 'bad back.' Well, I could have said that too ... but I thought given all of the circumstances it just isn't smart to play them, and this way I could look at the young kids and get to play Malik Hairston and those guys, and they gained experience they wouldn't have had otherwise.''
As important as it will be to avoid playing the Lakers until the conference finals, Popovich's priority is to convoy his team into the playoffs in the best possible health.
"One would never turn it down, that would be foolish,'' Popovich said of a No. 1 or 2 seed. "But if I overplay Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili to the point that they're exhausted come playoff time to get the No. 1 seed, then we're not going anywhere. I have to continue doing what I do as far as pacing it.
"Obviously, L.A. in the West and Boston and Cleveland in the East are the class of the league right now. Anything can happen, but those are the people you have to chase. The rest of us are a step behind them, and if the playoffs were today, I'd bet on L.A. and Boston or Cleveland, one or the other. But we think we've got room to improve, and we have some young people who are going to get better. I really enjoy this group because of the additions of the young kids, and we're going to keep trying to get better knowing full well that the Lakers are the team to catch.''