duncan228
11-07-2009, 01:06 PM
San Antonio Spurs Team Report (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/notes.htm?csp=34)
The San Antonio Spurs are struggling to put the pieces of their re-tooled roster together — so losing Tony Parker in the first half of Friday's 96-84 loss at Portland didn't help matters.
Two duds on the road dropped San Antonio to 0-3 away from home and to a very un-Spurs-like 2-3 on the season. The club will be happy to learn the upcoming schedule provides plenty of home cooking.
Two days of rest brings a stretch of 12 of their next 15 games at home, including seven of their next eight. Toronto, Oklahoma City and Dallas kick off the first leg of the home stretch followed by a quick trip to Dallas.
Then Utah, Washington, Milwaukee and Golden State visit San Antonio before a one-night jaunt to Houston. A one-game trip back to Utah splits up a remaining homestand that includes Philadelphia, Boston, Denver, Sacramento and Charlotte.
The Spurs, 2-0 at home with a pair of blowout wins, scored 113 points in each victory.
On the road, they have yet to put up 100 and haven't cracked 85 in two. For a team that traditionally takes care of business on opposing floors, San Antonio would have to go 26-12 the rest of the season on the road to match last season's road record.
TRAIL BLAZERS 96, SPURS: 84: Much like the night before in Utah, the Spurs found themselves trailing early, 29-14 after one quarter, and were never really able to dig their way out. The offense continued to be stagnant most of the night with Tony Parker sitting out the second half with a sprained ankle. The Spurs shot just 38 percent, including an abysmal 4-of-21 from the beyond the three-point arc.
NOTES, QUOTES
—The Spurs, who held their first three opponents this season to 96 points or less, surrendered 113 points in Thursday's loss at Utah, the first game of a difficult Western swing.
It was the most points San Antonio had allowed in a loss since a 113-94 defeat at Seattle on Nov. 7, 2004.
"We've got a lot of work to do to become a good defensive team and Utah obviously took advantage of that," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.
The Spurs have allowed an average of 100.3 points a game in their three road losses.
—Could it be a changing of the guard in the Western Conference — at least in the Portland-San Antonio series?
Portland won the season series 3-1 against San Antonio last year, marking the first time in eight seasons that the Blazers won the season series.
The last time Portland won the season series from the Spurs was 3-1 in 1999-00. After the Blazers' victory Friday in the first of three meetings between the two, Portland could again have the upper hand.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "Once that first hiccup comes and you have to man-up, you have a three-game losing streak with Boston and Cleveland back-to-back on the road in front of you, that's when you see what you're made of." — Richard Jefferson, on the team's two-game skid and three straight losses on the road.
ROSTER REPORT
ROTATION:
Starters — Point guard Tony Parker, Shooting guard Keith Bogans, Small forward Richard Jefferson, Power forward Tim Duncan, Center Matt Bonner.
Bench — Guard Manu Ginobili, Forward Antonio McDyess, Forward DeJuan Blair, Guard Roger Mason, Guard George Hill, Guard Michael Finley.
PLAYER NOTES:
—G Tony Parker received some good news Friday night when an X-ray taken on the left ankle he sprained in the first half revealed no structural damage.
Parker missed the entire second half, finishing with four points and an assist in 11:25 of action. The Spurs leading scorer (17.5 points a game) and top assist man (4.8) will be re-evaluated in San Antonio on Saturday.
His status for Monday's home game is, at least for now, day-to-day.
—F Tim Duncan is quickly discovering that despite newcomers such as Antonio McDyess and DeJuan Blair, he is shouldering most of the rebounding load, especially amongst the Spurs' starters.
Duncan entered Friday's game at Portland averaging 12.8 rebounds a game. The remaining four starters combined to average 8.4. The Spurs rank 27th in the league, averaging less than 40 a game. Only the rookie Blair (8.5) is averaging more than four rebounds a game.
Utah out-rebounded the Spurs by five on Thursday and Portland handled the boards Thursday from the opening tip, 48-37.
—G Manu Ginobili does not appear to have the same spring in his step Spurs fans are used to. He's acknowledged that he entered the season not in top-notch basketball conditioning.
Not helping things is the battery of rabies vaccine shots Ginobili has had over recent days after he swatted a bat flying in the AT&T Center with bare hand and then cupped it in his hands to remove it from the court.
The needle-pocked Ginobili did not have a good road trip, hitting just 7-of-22 from the field combined in Thursday's loss at Utah and Friday's loss at Portland.
MEDICAL WATCH:
—G Tony Parker (sprained left ankle), day-to-day.
The San Antonio Spurs are struggling to put the pieces of their re-tooled roster together — so losing Tony Parker in the first half of Friday's 96-84 loss at Portland didn't help matters.
Two duds on the road dropped San Antonio to 0-3 away from home and to a very un-Spurs-like 2-3 on the season. The club will be happy to learn the upcoming schedule provides plenty of home cooking.
Two days of rest brings a stretch of 12 of their next 15 games at home, including seven of their next eight. Toronto, Oklahoma City and Dallas kick off the first leg of the home stretch followed by a quick trip to Dallas.
Then Utah, Washington, Milwaukee and Golden State visit San Antonio before a one-night jaunt to Houston. A one-game trip back to Utah splits up a remaining homestand that includes Philadelphia, Boston, Denver, Sacramento and Charlotte.
The Spurs, 2-0 at home with a pair of blowout wins, scored 113 points in each victory.
On the road, they have yet to put up 100 and haven't cracked 85 in two. For a team that traditionally takes care of business on opposing floors, San Antonio would have to go 26-12 the rest of the season on the road to match last season's road record.
TRAIL BLAZERS 96, SPURS: 84: Much like the night before in Utah, the Spurs found themselves trailing early, 29-14 after one quarter, and were never really able to dig their way out. The offense continued to be stagnant most of the night with Tony Parker sitting out the second half with a sprained ankle. The Spurs shot just 38 percent, including an abysmal 4-of-21 from the beyond the three-point arc.
NOTES, QUOTES
—The Spurs, who held their first three opponents this season to 96 points or less, surrendered 113 points in Thursday's loss at Utah, the first game of a difficult Western swing.
It was the most points San Antonio had allowed in a loss since a 113-94 defeat at Seattle on Nov. 7, 2004.
"We've got a lot of work to do to become a good defensive team and Utah obviously took advantage of that," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.
The Spurs have allowed an average of 100.3 points a game in their three road losses.
—Could it be a changing of the guard in the Western Conference — at least in the Portland-San Antonio series?
Portland won the season series 3-1 against San Antonio last year, marking the first time in eight seasons that the Blazers won the season series.
The last time Portland won the season series from the Spurs was 3-1 in 1999-00. After the Blazers' victory Friday in the first of three meetings between the two, Portland could again have the upper hand.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "Once that first hiccup comes and you have to man-up, you have a three-game losing streak with Boston and Cleveland back-to-back on the road in front of you, that's when you see what you're made of." — Richard Jefferson, on the team's two-game skid and three straight losses on the road.
ROSTER REPORT
ROTATION:
Starters — Point guard Tony Parker, Shooting guard Keith Bogans, Small forward Richard Jefferson, Power forward Tim Duncan, Center Matt Bonner.
Bench — Guard Manu Ginobili, Forward Antonio McDyess, Forward DeJuan Blair, Guard Roger Mason, Guard George Hill, Guard Michael Finley.
PLAYER NOTES:
—G Tony Parker received some good news Friday night when an X-ray taken on the left ankle he sprained in the first half revealed no structural damage.
Parker missed the entire second half, finishing with four points and an assist in 11:25 of action. The Spurs leading scorer (17.5 points a game) and top assist man (4.8) will be re-evaluated in San Antonio on Saturday.
His status for Monday's home game is, at least for now, day-to-day.
—F Tim Duncan is quickly discovering that despite newcomers such as Antonio McDyess and DeJuan Blair, he is shouldering most of the rebounding load, especially amongst the Spurs' starters.
Duncan entered Friday's game at Portland averaging 12.8 rebounds a game. The remaining four starters combined to average 8.4. The Spurs rank 27th in the league, averaging less than 40 a game. Only the rookie Blair (8.5) is averaging more than four rebounds a game.
Utah out-rebounded the Spurs by five on Thursday and Portland handled the boards Thursday from the opening tip, 48-37.
—G Manu Ginobili does not appear to have the same spring in his step Spurs fans are used to. He's acknowledged that he entered the season not in top-notch basketball conditioning.
Not helping things is the battery of rabies vaccine shots Ginobili has had over recent days after he swatted a bat flying in the AT&T Center with bare hand and then cupped it in his hands to remove it from the court.
The needle-pocked Ginobili did not have a good road trip, hitting just 7-of-22 from the field combined in Thursday's loss at Utah and Friday's loss at Portland.
MEDICAL WATCH:
—G Tony Parker (sprained left ankle), day-to-day.