duncan228
04-01-2009, 12:04 AM
Unused timeout regretted by Spurs (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Unused_timeout_regretted_by_Spurs.html)
Mike Monroe
Spurs captain Tim Duncan regretted not calling a timeout in the final, frantic seconds of a 96-95 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night at the AT&T Center.
Manu Ginobili expressed similar remorse.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich eliminated any doubt about whether an end-game mental error had been committed.
“It should have been a timeout,” Popovich said. “Absolutely.”
Popovich had no problem with the Spurs hurrying the ball upcourt after rebounding a Thunder miss with 13.9 seconds left. He typically prefers to pressure a defense before it has a chance to get set, rather than calling a timeout.
It was after the Spurs nearly kicked the ball away, with about five seconds left, when the Spurs coach would have liked to have had a chance to reorganize his team.
Ginobili, who thought he should have called timeout a few seconds earlier, instead of passing to a well-defended Tony Parker, saved the ball to Duncan after it was knocked away from Parker.
That's when Duncan rued not asking for a timeout, with about four seconds left. Instead, he fired a pass to Michael Finley for what turned out to be a decent look at the basket for a potential game winner that bounced off the back rim.
“Just a mental lapse,” Duncan said. “I should have (called timeout). It was the right play to do at that time. I saw (Manu) going baseline and kind of faked it to him and saw the weakside defense going to him and didn't throw it. At that point, I should have called timeout to give us a chance to set something up.”
G'day, Brett: Spurs assistant coach Brett Brown was named head coach of Australia's national men's team, the Boomers, beginning this summer and carrying through to the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Brown, a Spurs assistant for the past six seasons, was head coach of the North Melbourne Giants and the Sydney Tigers in the Australian National Basketball League from 1993-2002. He was an assistant coach for Australia's Olympic teams in 1996 and 2000.
Popovich said the Spurs have cleared Brown for all the time he needs to coach the Aussies during the summer.
Oberto cleared: Spurs center Fabricio Oberto was cleared to play by doctors who examined his heart on Monday. Oberto experienced an irregular heartbeat last week. He was inactive for Tuesday's game.
Mike Monroe
Spurs captain Tim Duncan regretted not calling a timeout in the final, frantic seconds of a 96-95 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night at the AT&T Center.
Manu Ginobili expressed similar remorse.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich eliminated any doubt about whether an end-game mental error had been committed.
“It should have been a timeout,” Popovich said. “Absolutely.”
Popovich had no problem with the Spurs hurrying the ball upcourt after rebounding a Thunder miss with 13.9 seconds left. He typically prefers to pressure a defense before it has a chance to get set, rather than calling a timeout.
It was after the Spurs nearly kicked the ball away, with about five seconds left, when the Spurs coach would have liked to have had a chance to reorganize his team.
Ginobili, who thought he should have called timeout a few seconds earlier, instead of passing to a well-defended Tony Parker, saved the ball to Duncan after it was knocked away from Parker.
That's when Duncan rued not asking for a timeout, with about four seconds left. Instead, he fired a pass to Michael Finley for what turned out to be a decent look at the basket for a potential game winner that bounced off the back rim.
“Just a mental lapse,” Duncan said. “I should have (called timeout). It was the right play to do at that time. I saw (Manu) going baseline and kind of faked it to him and saw the weakside defense going to him and didn't throw it. At that point, I should have called timeout to give us a chance to set something up.”
G'day, Brett: Spurs assistant coach Brett Brown was named head coach of Australia's national men's team, the Boomers, beginning this summer and carrying through to the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Brown, a Spurs assistant for the past six seasons, was head coach of the North Melbourne Giants and the Sydney Tigers in the Australian National Basketball League from 1993-2002. He was an assistant coach for Australia's Olympic teams in 1996 and 2000.
Popovich said the Spurs have cleared Brown for all the time he needs to coach the Aussies during the summer.
Oberto cleared: Spurs center Fabricio Oberto was cleared to play by doctors who examined his heart on Monday. Oberto experienced an irregular heartbeat last week. He was inactive for Tuesday's game.