duncan228
03-14-2009, 12:22 AM
Championship pursuit hinges on health of Spurs' stars (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Championship_pursuit_hinges_on_health_of_Spurs_sta rs.html)
Jeff McDonald
HOUSTON — It is homestretch time in the 82-game marathon that is the NBA season.
Over the course of the next month, teams will jostle and jockey for playoff positioning and home-court advantage, with each day bringing the promise of more shuffling and shakeup.
With the postseason looming, however, the Spurs are likely to spend less time watching the standings and more time monitoring their medical report.
“We've always felt the important things toward playoff time are freshness and health,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “Hopefully, we'll be in that situation. Teams don't win championships when their best players are out.”
Between now and the postseason, the physical well-being of some of the Spurs' best players will take top priority. How well they heal will go a long way toward determining how long the Spurs play.
Star reserve Manu Ginobili has overshot the initial timetable for his return from an ankle injury, missing 13 games and counting. Tim Duncan has conceded he will probably toil the rest of the season on stiff knees. Newly acquired forward Drew Gooden is just now feeling up to joining the rotation after fighting a sore groin.
For the Spurs, the biggest obstacle to returning to the NBA Finals is not the star-studded Lakers, who just won consecutive games in Houston and San Antonio. Nor is it the Rockets, the Spurs' opponent tonight at the Toyota Center and the team nearest them in the Southwest Division standings.
It is the hobbled team they see in the mirror.
“For us right now, the big thing is just to be healthy,” point guard Tony Parker said. “And get everybody back.”
The Spurs' No. 1 goal is to get Ginobili back in time for him to find a groove before the playoffs. Nursing a stress reaction in his distal right fibula, his rehab has gone more slowly than expected. The initial prognosis called for him to miss two to three weeks, a signpost that passed on Thursday.
Ginobili has not yet been cleared for practice. Wednesday marked the first time he was able to participate in anything but stationary shooting drills. One sign of hope: Ginobili went with the team on its two-game road trip to Houston and Oklahoma City, the first time he's boarded the Spurs' charter jet since before the All-Star break.
The Spurs would like to have Duncan at 100 percent for a playoff run, but that might not be an option.
Duncan missed the final three games in February with tendonosis in his right knee. He hasn't looked quite right since returning, averaging 15.3 points and shooting 43.5 percent (42 of 90) in seven games.
After Thursday's loss to the Lakers, in which he went 6 of 13 and missed a handful of chip shots, Duncan said the knee was “getting better” but acknowledged the pain and stiffness hadn't fully subsided.
“It's a long season, it's still sore and all that stuff,” Duncan said. “It's going to come, and it's going to go. It's going to be something that I'll deal with and manage.”
The Spurs received their best injury news in a while with 3:36 left in the first half Thursday. That's when Gooden checked in to a game for the first time since signing a free-agent deal Saturday.
It was Gooden's second appearance in an NBA game since Jan. 19, and it amounted to little more than a cameo. Gooden finished the quarter, grabbed four rebounds, made his only shot attempt and did not play in the second half.
Still, he gave the Spurs a glimpse at why they had acquired him. He is capable of producing a double-double night-in, night-out if given the minutes.
“He looked like he's been here all year,” Popovich said. “He's a pro. He knows it's basketball. It's not real difficult. He's played it long enough, and he plays it well.”
Jeff McDonald
HOUSTON — It is homestretch time in the 82-game marathon that is the NBA season.
Over the course of the next month, teams will jostle and jockey for playoff positioning and home-court advantage, with each day bringing the promise of more shuffling and shakeup.
With the postseason looming, however, the Spurs are likely to spend less time watching the standings and more time monitoring their medical report.
“We've always felt the important things toward playoff time are freshness and health,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “Hopefully, we'll be in that situation. Teams don't win championships when their best players are out.”
Between now and the postseason, the physical well-being of some of the Spurs' best players will take top priority. How well they heal will go a long way toward determining how long the Spurs play.
Star reserve Manu Ginobili has overshot the initial timetable for his return from an ankle injury, missing 13 games and counting. Tim Duncan has conceded he will probably toil the rest of the season on stiff knees. Newly acquired forward Drew Gooden is just now feeling up to joining the rotation after fighting a sore groin.
For the Spurs, the biggest obstacle to returning to the NBA Finals is not the star-studded Lakers, who just won consecutive games in Houston and San Antonio. Nor is it the Rockets, the Spurs' opponent tonight at the Toyota Center and the team nearest them in the Southwest Division standings.
It is the hobbled team they see in the mirror.
“For us right now, the big thing is just to be healthy,” point guard Tony Parker said. “And get everybody back.”
The Spurs' No. 1 goal is to get Ginobili back in time for him to find a groove before the playoffs. Nursing a stress reaction in his distal right fibula, his rehab has gone more slowly than expected. The initial prognosis called for him to miss two to three weeks, a signpost that passed on Thursday.
Ginobili has not yet been cleared for practice. Wednesday marked the first time he was able to participate in anything but stationary shooting drills. One sign of hope: Ginobili went with the team on its two-game road trip to Houston and Oklahoma City, the first time he's boarded the Spurs' charter jet since before the All-Star break.
The Spurs would like to have Duncan at 100 percent for a playoff run, but that might not be an option.
Duncan missed the final three games in February with tendonosis in his right knee. He hasn't looked quite right since returning, averaging 15.3 points and shooting 43.5 percent (42 of 90) in seven games.
After Thursday's loss to the Lakers, in which he went 6 of 13 and missed a handful of chip shots, Duncan said the knee was “getting better” but acknowledged the pain and stiffness hadn't fully subsided.
“It's a long season, it's still sore and all that stuff,” Duncan said. “It's going to come, and it's going to go. It's going to be something that I'll deal with and manage.”
The Spurs received their best injury news in a while with 3:36 left in the first half Thursday. That's when Gooden checked in to a game for the first time since signing a free-agent deal Saturday.
It was Gooden's second appearance in an NBA game since Jan. 19, and it amounted to little more than a cameo. Gooden finished the quarter, grabbed four rebounds, made his only shot attempt and did not play in the second half.
Still, he gave the Spurs a glimpse at why they had acquired him. He is capable of producing a double-double night-in, night-out if given the minutes.
“He looked like he's been here all year,” Popovich said. “He's a pro. He knows it's basketball. It's not real difficult. He's played it long enough, and he plays it well.”