Monroe: Gooden Makes Strong First Impression In Spurs Debut

[duncan228]

Gooden makes strong first impression in Spurs debut (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Gooden_makes_strong_first_impression_in_Spurs_debu t.html)
Mike Monroe

It was really no surprise that the first shot forward Drew Gooden attempted as a member of the Spurs produced a basket.

“Every team I've been on, I've made my first shot,” Gooden said after making his Spurs debut in Thursday's 102-95 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers at the AT&T Center.

It was the only shot Gooden attempted during a 3:32 stretch of the second quarter, but not his only contribution for the Spurs. He also had four rebounds.

“He looked like he's been here all year,” said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. “He's a pro. He knows it's basketball. It's not real difficult. He's played it long enough and he plays well.”

Gooden said the groin strain that had kept him sidelined since he signed with the Spurs last week felt fine after his short stint on the floor.

Just playing at all, he said, felt great.

“Last game I played was two weeks ago, and before that was a month-and-a-half, so it felt good to get some action.”

Don't be stupid: Popovich watched the Lakers victory over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night, including Kobe Bryant's 18-point fourth quarter that followed a trash-talking contest with Rockets defensive ace Ron Artest.

His players, he said, knew better than to antagonize Bryant.

“We don't want any Artest stuff,” he said before tipoff. “Don't even look him in the eye.

“My guys are pretty smart. They just go play. They don't get involved in that chit-chat.”

Popovich spoke about Bryant's fourth-quarter performance in Houston in reverential tones.

“I had the sense the whole game he was just biding his time,” Popovich said. “He was checking out what needed to be done, as he does so well — picking his spots and keeping everybody involved, and when the time came and it was real close, he just buried some shots that were incredible.

“He just took over and ‘boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.'

“Incredible.”

The Spurs coach compared Bryant favorably to Bulls great Michael Jordan.

“A lot of guys can play their whole career and they can't pick their spots and know what's going on out on the court,” he said. “He's a special player. He's like Michael in that sense. He understands everything that's going on and what's needed to go win, and he has the ability to do it in so many different ways, whether it's defense, or a board, or an assist or a shot or a drive.

“That's why he is who he is.”

Free throw woes: The Spurs picked a bad night to have one of their worst foul shooting games of the season. They entered Thursday's game shooting 77 percent from the foul line, tied with Boston for 14th in the NBA. They made only 8 of 16. Tony Parker missed four of his first five from the line, finishing 3 for 7.

[Ice009]

What is this crap from Pop?

I'm not really too keen on this ass kissing Pop is giving Kobe.

[honestfool84]

What is this crap from Pop?

I'm not really too keen on this ass kissing Pop is giving Kobe.

should he say...
kobe sucks, we raped him?

he's just respecting a great player, no harm in that.

[crc21209]

I can't wait to see more of this guy.

[gilmor]

Since Lefty et all ditch Parker so much..

Can you guys imagine if Tony and Kobe were on the same team...

[SenorSpur]

If Pop was so impressed with Gooden and if he looked as comfortable as Pop indicated, then why the F did he only play him 3 minutes?

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

If Pop was so impressed with Gooden and if he looked as comfortable as Pop indicated, then why the F did he only play him 3 minutes?

I think Pop didn't like seeing him fall down, and didn't want to risk any more injury. Also maybe he doesn't want to show Phil all his cards or let Phil have enough tape to plan around a Gooden , Timmy tandem, just yet.

[coachmac87]

Pop has so much respect for Kobe...same for Kobe towards Pop. You cant guard the guy, he is the ONLY player who can score from anywhere on the court consistently. If its from 3,Midrange, and finish at the rim. You have to hold your breath every time he shoots hoping he misses. And once he does, you have to get the rebound. Something the Spurs didnt do.

[Cry_For_Me_Sky]

If Pop was so impressed with Gooden and if he looked as comfortable as Pop indicated, then why the F did he only play him 3 minutes?


Pops believes healthy teams win championships. Which is true, obviously.... Drew was good enough to get on the court for a while, but knowing Pops, he wasn't gonna let him play for long, and risk him getting hurt a little more...

[raspsa]

If Pop was so impressed with Gooden and if he looked as comfortable as Pop indicated, then why the F did he only play him 3 minutes?

He was just throwing a bone to fans clamoring to see Gooden in action..:lol

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

He was just throwing a bone to fans clamoring to see Gooden in action..:lol

yeah, he needed to get some fans' asses back in their seats before the 2nd 1/2, since they were already starting to leave :lol


I was surprised he put Gooden in though, I was expecting the next game.

[Whisky Dog]

Pop wanted to get a short look at what Gooden could possibly bring in a matchup sense against Gasol/Odom. That's all. After Gooden looked pretty good in that stretch Pop decided he had seen enough and went back to his original game plan.

The fact that Bruce didn't get much time on Kobe, Gooden never saw the floor again, and Pop had Hill guarding Kobe in crunch time tells me he wasn't too keen on going all out to try to win this game. He was looking at matchups and is basically biding his time until Manu comes back and the team needs to gel their rotations for the playoffs.

The big worries for me are TD's health and Bonner's regression. Hopefully neither trend towards the worst.

[raspsa]

Pop's mind works in multiple dimensions unfathomable to ordinary fans.. in short, he was experimenting again.

[urunobili]

If Pop was so impressed with Gooden and if he looked as comfortable as Pop indicated, then why the F did he only play him 3 minutes?

Health SeñorSpur... Health... :depressed

[angelbelow]

i hope he plays more tomorrow. better that he get experience and learns now rather than later.

[MoSpur]

Kobe is the closest thing to Michael. I hate saying that, but its the truth. Drew was great in just four minutes. Let's hope that's just a glimpse.

[DBMethos]

Drew would have been useful in stopping some of those offensive rebounds for the Lakers...how many did they have last night, like 50?

[EricB]

Yeah play the guy 35 minutes when he's hardly played for two months. More spurstalk armchair geniuses.

[Russ]

The fact that Bruce didn't get much time on Kobe, Gooden never saw the floor again, and Pop had Hill guarding Kobe in crunch time tells me he wasn't too keen on going all out to try to win this game. He was looking at matchups and is basically biding his time until Manu comes back and the team needs to gel their rotations for the playoffs.


Agreed. The folks who say that Bowen wasn't on Kobe because Bowen is washed up miss this point.

[sananspursfan21]

Agreed. The folks who say that Bowen wasn't on Kobe because Bowen is washed up miss this point.

bowen does seem to be kinda stagnant with the team at this point, but the thing is that you don't really lose your defensive skill with age. you might lose a little edge, but bowen's still got his skill set and he can still do the best job on kobe

[poop]

“He looked like he's been here all year,” said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. “He's a pro. He knows it's basketball. It's not real difficult. He's played it long enough and he plays well.”


oh really? is that why you played him for one minute then sat him in favor of flat-footed oberto as we got murdered on the boards and in the paint? oh and good thing we got rid of POPS too, his quickness, athleticism and rebounding were not at all what we need against the Lakers bigs.

:rolleyes

[SenorSpur]

For all those who claimed that Pop didn't play Gooden more minutes Thursday because of health reasons, I say BULLSHIT! After his fine showing against the Rockets, did Gooden just suddenly become healthy in just two days? Give me a break. :rolleyes

Yes, the team has to be healthy going into the playoffs. I get that. Gooden certainly may not be 100%. I get that, too. However, he is obviously capable of providing some productive minutes and badly-needed frontline energy in spot duty. No one is claiming the guy is ready for 30+ minutes a game, but he damn sure deserved more than the 3 minutes he played versus the Fakers. Especially considering the way the Spurs were getting their asses handed to them on the glass and in the paint.

This is just CIA Pop being an overly-conservative old lady again.

[EricB]

Uh, you can't just play a guy who hasn't played a full game in almost 3 months, 20 30 minutes.

Get a grip.

[Thomas82]

Pop's mind works in multiple dimensions unfathomable to ordinary fans.. in short, he was experimenting again.

That's a good way to put it.

[SenorSpur]

Obviously, a gradual integration is the only way to go because of his long layoff. No one said anything about having him play upwards of 20-30 minutes. All I'm saying is limiting him to only 3 minutes is a bit chinsy, when the guy played 15 mins last night. He didn't just suddenly get healthy.

[picnroll]

Yeah play the guy 35 minutes when he's hardly played for two months. More spurstalk armchair geniuses.

If you're going to throw in all the arrogant, asshole footnotes you might as well just go back to T Park.

[Go For Tree]

If Pop was so impressed with Gooden and if he looked as comfortable as Pop indicated, then why the F did he only play him 3 minutes?

ill go with because he knows the only way we catch the lakers for number 1 is if kobe is injured. even spurs fans shouldnt want that. pop didnt want the lakers to see first hand how he vital he can be for us, plus he had to see how was going to feel the next day. pop is genius and i guarantee he didnt give his best effort to win that game on the scorebored. he had to se what he had in george and mason on kobe in crunch time. hes just feeling out all of his options for the playoffs. hes never cared about seeding and why should he? this team is deep even witout manu playing. find out how the new guys handle the pressure in crunch time. im ok with that loss. the spurs can get better from it but the lakers are what they are and wont improve (not saying they need to improve but its nice knowing we will). What are the chances we come out flat in the 1st quarter again against them? Zero. I wont qusestion any pop moves. 4 rings are hard to argue. Only 3 teams have more.

[Mavs<Spurs]

But when the Detroit Pistons walked onto the floor after a timeout last month against the Spurs, one Piston asked what play to run.

“Just give the ball to whoever Bonner is guarding,” Rasheed Wallace yelled.


And the penny drops.

That quote is the realization of my fear: Other teams will think about where to attack the Spurs when the Spurs are on defense and know that Bonner is the weakest link. And it's pretty d#$@ obvious.

[Spur-Addict]

But when the Detroit Pistons walked onto the floor after a timeout last month against the Spurs, one Piston asked what play to run.

“Just give the ball to whoever Bonner is guarding,” Rasheed Wallace yelled.




:lmao

Sad, but still funny. His stints will shorten in certain matchups. But, he'll get more minutes in others. It's just nice to have that flexibility now.

[Borosai]

Nobody puts Bonner in a corner.

Sandy said it best: Let's get physical.