Game Blog: SAS vs. MIN 12-03-10

[ElNono]

Great to see a legitimate PG... Cedric is already playing better than Mason...
In other news, Manu only brought his facilitator game tonight...

[Libri]

One of Jackson's problems where ever he has been is he does not shoot for a high percentage. I guess that hasn't changed.

uh oh

[bbarry]

wtf that was a horrible last 6 mins of the 3rd

[dbestpro]

Blair o point and 2 rebounds. Its like RJ and Blair have switched bodies.

[Chieflion]

LOL small ball.

[Manudona]

notice how much better the starting lineup looks w/o bogans.

And look how good the bench is now without Manu...

Manu in the bench and Spurs were #1 bench in point/rebounds and assists, while the starters were in the middle of the pack.

Now Manu starts, and the starters are good and the bench is a shadow.

[timtonymanu]

finally Blair.

[Chieflion]

Can Pop stop playing the centerpiece?

[SpursRulez4eVeR]

mason and bogans dribbling above the three point line is just fun to watch

[dbestpro]

Is Blair taking a nap? See how long he took to get back?

[Libri]

Bogans finally does something

[crc21209]

The T'Wolves are making this run because of the dumb play by Blair tonight...

[Manudona]

All starters with like +20, Manu -2.. ROFL

[alchemist]

Blair getting his shit stuffed every time

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

wtf that was a horrible last 6 mins of the 3rd

Story of the season - we shut up shop and forget how to play in the 3rd quarter.

[Spurs Brazil]

Good one Hill

[SpursRulez4eVeR]

pop : unfreakingbelievable

[Johnny RIngo]

And look how good the bench is now without Manu...

Manu in the bench and Spurs were #1 bench in point/rebounds and assists, while the starters were in the middle of the pack.

Now Manu starts, and the starters are good and the bench is a shadow.

Our depth sucks. We have too many unathletic, one-dimensional players. A trade for Salmons/Thomas would have been tremendous.

[dbestpro]

Blair needs some pine time. His effort if way below par.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

Only saw the second half so far, but Hairston seems to have garnered very little playing time.

How was he today?

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

Our depth sucks. We have too many unathletic, one-dimensional players. A trade for Salmons/Thomas would have been tremendous.

What's worse is that we had the expirings to do it and didn't. :depressed

[SpursRulez4eVeR]

Only saw the second half so far, but Hairston seems to have garnered very little playing time.

How was he today?

first off the bench before mason and bogans, got called for three fouls in 4 mins of playing time

[HarlemHeat37]

Only saw the second half so far, but Hairston seems to have garnered very little playing time.

How was he today?

He showed his inexperience..

[Libri]

Minnesota defense lol

[ulosturedge]

Wow Hill has been making some good passes tonight :clap

He might still have some point guard in him yet.

[Spurs Brazil]

Mason is a disgrace; can't hit a shot and ALWAYS, ALWAYS late on D

[timtonymanu]

i be scared to get fouled by milicic. he might hunt me down after the game and tell me he'll fuck and kill my babies.

[ulosturedge]

Uh oh, the center piece is trying to make us think he deserves to be on the court again.

[timtonymanu]

bring in cedric/malik/ian after the timeout.

[easy7]

Bogus playing better than Mason, damn...

[SpursRulez4eVeR]

Wow Hill has been making some good passes tonight :clap

He might still have some point guard in him yet.

do you see any defense played by the wolves? coz i dont

[Rick18]

Had the Spurs at $1.40 today, way over the odds.

Easy money :tu

[easy7]

Damn, Mason can't score for shit..

[BanditHiro]

mason can't make a shot

[SpursRulez4eVeR]

:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmaomason:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao :lmao:lmao

[BanditHiro]

rofl makes the hardest shot

[timtonymanu]

wow how sad is it that i think bogans is a better scorer/shooter than mason?

[TDMVPDPOY]

masons a fkn joke this season

[easy7]

Finally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[alchemist]

Hill doing Ginobili-type passes?

[timtonymanu]

and he makes the hardest shots. lol.

[quentin_compson]

Finally, Roger.

[ulosturedge]

do you see any defense played by the wolves? coz i dont

Quit rainin' on my parade!


Either way this should help his confidence in that department.

[dbestpro]

Ian on his way in.

[DPG21920]

Good defense by Malike and D-League.

[TDMVPDPOY]

great pop playin bench smallball

[timtonymanu]

Blair cant even rebound or make layups anymore.

[alchemist]

this Cedric kid plays with a lot of fire, money is a hell of motivator.

[dbestpro]

Only saw the second half so far, but Hairston seems to have garnered very little playing time.

How was he today?

foul proned.

[BanditHiro]

great pop playin bench smallball

3mintues to go might as well rest duncan rj and ginobili

[Chieflion]

Bogans fouled on purpose to get Ian in.

[ElNono]

I'm glad that both Mason and Bogans are part of garbage time

[DPG21920]

:wow Holy shit Malik!

[Spurs Brazil]

Malik dunk!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Chieflion]

Hairston!!!!!!!

[ulosturedge]

Malik keeping up with his quota lol.

[DPG21920]

Ian scores easy.

[mookie2001]

nice dunk

[quentin_compson]

Well, this Hairston guy can jump.

[Libri]

running hook shot by Ian

[DPG21920]

Damn, that dunk was nasty.

[Dro210]

This has been awesome garbage time. I like Jackson.

Malik just shit on the TWolves and their lack of defense.

[alchemist]

Malik got that Dwight hops.

[easy7]

Malikekeeeeeeeeeeeee

[Chieflion]

Pop speaking to Ian individually. Wonder what he is saying.

[024]

death, taxes, and mahinmi fouling.

[timtonymanu]

Malik is so badass.

[tothrowed]

damnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn malik is fuccin cold and this jackson guy is not so bad spurs need to keep an eye on him

[alchemist]

Cedric:
-Attacks the basket
-Knows how to set up a pass to the post
-Can't shoot a jumper
-Plays defense
-Please play the kid more!

[Dro210]

Most dunks in a game since.....????

[ThePop]

Is there a count of how many dunks the spurs have had today? I can't remember the last time we had this much.

[taps]

dang hairston truly kissed the sky with that dunk :hitit:

[Sisk]

seriously.. what is the dunk total? there are more dunks in this game than all of last season combined..

[raspsa]

Manu 26 minutes
Timmy 28 minutes
Popis one of the best at managing PT

[ulosturedge]

Cheif theres your boy lol.

[easy7]

Ian is not helping himself tonight.

[TDMVPDPOY]

mahinmi = foul m achine

[Chieflion]

So Ramon Sessions breaks out against Ian. Weird night.

[Dro210]

horrible play from start to finish by ian... i thought he was for sure gonna block that shot.

Nope... foul

[dbestpro]

Looks like the Austin Toros are on the floor.

[ThePop]

Jefferson has had at least 3 dunks
Manu 1
Blair 1
Hairston 1
Hill at least 1

off the top of my head

[Dro210]

McDyess had at least 1

[Chieflion]

I see Roger Mason ball hogging!

[024]

hairston guarding PFs a little too well. dont want to give pop any ideas...

[raspsa]

CJ really quick

[timtonymanu]

Jackson making the most of his playing time.

[Chieflion]

Ian drives and scores.

[Spurs Brazil]

Good win

[Libri]

Malik got that Dwight hops.

He showed this the last game with a block on Harrington and then with an offensive rebound and put back dunk.

[Chomag]

Minnesota LOL

[easy7]

Jackson was a good patch for a pg tonight

[timtonymanu]

Decent game by Jackson. If he can get better, we should try to get him in the summer league.

[taps]

mahinmi continues to try to cover up his mistakes with good plays.

Popsuckers will no doubt focus on the mistakes in the mahinmi sux thread, not to mention ignore the fact that pop always goes small or w/bonner when he plays ian and runs the offense through him - a responsibility malik doesn't have to handle as much b/c of his position.

[Sisk]

cedric > ian
:stirpot:

[TD 21]

Good win. You might say "is there such thing as a bad win?", but in a game like this, there is. The Spurs needed to not only win this, but do so while not over-extending Duncan, Ginobili and to a lesser extent, McDyess and Hill. Mission accomplished. Good to see Jefferson playing with assertiveness on the offensive end, even if it is against a bottom feeder. Hopefully we see a similar performance tomorrow against a slightly better, but still terrible team.

[easy7]

Mason needs to put his money where his trade mouth is and stop stinking up the team.

[ThePop]

If anybody is wondering, they showed all the dunks on the highlights, there were 8.

[quentin_compson]

Nice game, but let's not forget this was the T-Wolves.

Hill seemed very determined, good thing.

[ulosturedge]

Great game for RJ. If he puts up an O-for tomorrow I'm gonna be pissed.

[raspsa]

Great game for RJ. If he puts up an O-for tomorrow I'm gonna be pissed.

Yeah, he was clearly making an effort to rebound and pass the ball to open teammates, aside from mixing up his shot attempts.. several dunks show his aggressiveness. I think he has a short attention span hence his inconsistent performances.. Pop should give him a talk before each game.

[duncan228]

R. Jefferson, Hill lead Spurs over Timberwolves (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap?gid=2010031216&prov=ap)
By Jon Krawczynski

Manu Ginobili only played 28 minutes, Tim Duncan only 25 and Tony Parker didn’t play at all.

Yet the San Antonio Spurs were still way too much for the Minnesota Timberwolves, who seem to sink lower and lower each time they take the court.

Richard Jefferson had 19 points, nine rebounds and three assists in his first start in seven games to help the Spurs to a 103-85 victory over the Timberwolves on Friday night.

George Hill had 19 points and eight assists and Duncan had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Spurs, who have won six of their last seven games, including two of three without the injured Parker.

“We’re right in the mix of things, and we’re trying to move up and try to jockey for some position so every win is a good win right now,” Duncan said.

Wayne Ellington scored 17 points for the Timberwolves, who have lost eight in a row and 14 of their last 15 games. They actually held a lead midway through the second quarter, but San Antonio outscored them 26-8 over the next eight minutes to send them hurtling to yet another loss in a season full of them.

“They need a win is what they need,” coach Kurt Rambis said. “Guys establish winning attitudes and losing attitudes and right now, our guys feel when things go bad, it’s here we go again.”

Maybe for the Spurs, as well.

Things looked ominous for the Spurs when Parker broke his right hand on March 6. But they took the Cavaliers to the wire and have beat up on the Knicks and Timberwolves to get a little momentum going.

They kept it going against a Timberwolves team that may have folded up the tents on this season. The Wolves have just one victory since Feb. 6 and this young club is starting to show its frustrations.

After a loss to the Nuggets on Wednesday, the team’s two best players—Al Jefferson and Kevin Love, who was out on Friday with a sprained left foot— questioned Rambis’ defensive game plan, and Love said he was still confused about his role in the offense.

Rambis said he recognized the losses—52 in all to this point—are starting to take their toll. The effort on defense is lacking, the turnovers come in bunches and the long faces are omnipresent.

Case in point: The Wolves scored just 15 points in the third quarter on Friday night, and wilted after San Antonio opened the period with a 12-2 run to take a 63-45 lead.

“We came out at halftime and we just laid an egg,” Rambis said.

Jefferson had 13 points and nine rebounds for Minnesota.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich inserted Jefferson into the starting lineup for the first time in seven games, and he gave San Antonio plenty of energy early, scoring six points, grabbing four rebounds and getting two assists in the opening quarter.

The high-flyer was supposed to bring that kind of juice to the Spurs on a nightly basis when he came over from Milwaukee, but he hasn’t played up to his $14 million salary. He started the night averaging a modest 11.9 points and 2.5 rebounds this year managed just three points combined in the last two games. That includes a scoreless 18 minutes against the Knicks on Wednesday that he called the worst game of his career, including college.

But he was much more active on Friday night, slashing to the rim and pouncing on loose balls for easy put-backs.

“With that body at that position he should do that quite often,” Popovich said of the 6-foot-7 Jefferson. “I was real pleased he got nine rebounds and he was aggressive offensively. That’s what we’re looking for.”

Maybe Jefferson was just saving himself for the stretch run. The proud veteran team, which has a history of starting slow in the regular season and turning it on for the playoffs, started the night in seventh place in the Western Conference, just a half game ahead of eighth-seeded Portland.

It couldn’t come at a better time for the Spurs, who play the Clippers before a grueling stretch of seven games that includes Orlando, Atlanta, Oklahoma City, the Lakers, Cleveland and Boston.

“I’ve been inconsistent, up-and-down, up-and-down, one good game here, struggle here,” Jefferson said. “I haven’t had those few weeks of playing quality basketball, so that’s probably been a frustration. Just for me it’s something I pride myself on is just consistency.”

NOTES: After scoring 66 points in the previous two games, Ginobili had just six against Minnesota. … Timberwolves F Ryan Hollins served the second of a two-game suspension for altercations with DeShawn Stevenson and Dirk Nowitzki against the Mavericks on Monday. … The Timberwolves now leave on a 10-day road trip, starting with a game in Sacramento on Sunday.

[ElNono]

Even if it was against a shit team, we need every win we can get. Plus this game let some players build some confidence for the games ahead. We needed to blow out this team and we did. Mission accomplished.

[JustinJDW]

It's time to let Mason go and give Hairston all his minutes. If the Spurs Front Office re-signs Mason in the Off-Season, I will be absolutely stunned.


Cedric Jackson:
-Attacks the basket
-Knows how to set up a pass to the post
-Can't shoot a jumper
-Plays defense
-Please play the kid more!Yeah, that's about right. I wouldn't mind seeing him on the floor. My heart always had, and always will have a soft spot for players that actually give effort and play Defense.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

I doubt Mason would even be offered a contract from the Spurs, considering he made a trade demand.