Game Blog: Bucks @ Spurs - Dec. 15

[bluebellmaniac]

Ok, didn't get to see the game, just listened to it on the radio.

Here's my question: With 32 seconds left in the game, Bucks have the ball. We gotta play great defense and one would assume whether the Bucks make the shot or not, we're calling timeout to set up our last shot so we can switch in our best offensive weapons. So...... why do we have Bonner in the game when we absolutely have to have our best defensive guys in there? Wouldn't we want Dice in there?

[JustinJDW]

Guys, the Spurs are gonna win this game. I don't know why everyone is sweating. I don't know how or why, but I knew we were gonna win the second I started watching the 3rd quarter. We're gonna win peeps.

:)What I say son? :hat

[crc21209]

DeJuan Blair said he tweaked his right knee. Docs didn't think it serious enough to X-ray. He expects to play in Denver. #spurs

Hopefully he's alright...:tu

[duncan228]

Post-Game Video

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=168376

Quotes

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=168375


Ginobili hits at buzzer, Spurs beat Bucks 92-90 (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap?gid=2010121524)

Manu Ginobili learned his lesson about driving to the basket against the NBA’s leading shot blocker. So instead of going at Andrew Bogut with the clock winding down, the San Antonio guard settled for a fallaway jumper.

Smart decision.

Ginobili scored the last of his 26 points as time expired, lifting the Spurs over Milwaukee 92-90 on Wednesday night for their sixth consecutive victory.

Ginobili hit a 17-footer from the left elbow over the outstretched arm of Luc Mbah a Moute, who missed a shot that would have given Milwaukee the lead seconds earlier.

“I had the opportunity, the trust of my teammates that I could hit the shot,” Ginobili said. “Most of the time, it doesn’t go in. It’s not a high-percentage shot but I’m glad we won.”

Ginobili had been denied twice by Bogut—who leads the league in blocks at 2.88 per game—in the fourth. So with the final seconds ticking away, Ginobili dribbled to his left and pulled up. He scored the final six points for San Antonio.

The Spurs improved their NBA-best record to 21-3 and stayed unbeaten against Eastern Conference teams. They also wrapped up a 6-0 homestand.

“Manu hit a (heck) of a shot to pull it out for us,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said.

Chris Douglas-Roberts(notes) had 21 points and Drew Gooden added 20 for the Bucks, who also marveled at Ginobili’s game-winner—even though coach Scott Skiles said the Argentine got away with traveling.

“It was great D. (Mbah a Moute) made him travel. We just looked at it about five times,” Skiles said.

Mbah a Moute said he did everything he could defensively.

“I knew they were going to him,” he said. “He likes to go left. He went left, I cut him off, he stepped back and made the shot.”

Milwaukee couldn’t pull off its second upset in a row after ending Dallas’ 12-game winning streak Monday.

San Antonio led by double digits for most of the third, but Milwaukee went on a 12-4 run and Brandon Jennings hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to cut the deficit to eight.

Gooden scored 13 of Milwaukee’s first 17 points in the fourth and a tip-in off Jennings’ miss to tie the game at 90 with 47 seconds left.

Bogut had two of his seven blocks on consecutive Spurs possessions late in the fourth, leading to Gooden’s basket that tied it.

But Tim Duncan grabbed the rebound of Moute’s miss and immediately called timeout to set up Ginobili’s game-winner.

Skiles and the Bucks sounded more disappointed with their final possession than Ginobili’s shot. Skiles said the play was drawn up to get Bogut the ball in the post, but that broke down when Gooden couldn’t get the big man the entry pass.

Instead, Jennings forced a pass to Mbah a Moute on the baseline with the shot clock winding down. The jumper missed, and Duncan corralled it.

“I tried to tip it,” Gooden said. “I should have grabbed it.”

Gooden opened the fourth with seven straight points, including a bank shot off Jennings’ pass that helped spark Milwaukee’s rally.

Duncan finished with 13 points and a season-high seven blocks, while Tony Parker scored 16 and Richard Jefferson added 11 points for San Antonio.

Jennings had a scare just before halftime, when he came down awkwardly on a layup attempt with Parker defending. The second-year guard immediately grabbed his left knee and was attended to on the Bucks’ sideline, but he returned to start the third.

Ginobili led the charge in the opening quarter by scoring six points to help build a 17-6 lead that prompted Milwaukee coach Scott Skiles to call a timeout.

The Bucks managed to regroup, with Bogut hitting back-to-back shots to get Milwaukee back in rhythm. Douglas-Roberts hit a 3 and converted a three-point play to cut the San Antonio lead to 25-20 after the first quarter.

NOTES: Spurs F/C Tiago Splitter left in the third with a bruise on his right side. He is day-to-day.

[ShoogarBear]

lol, "bruise on right side".

[duncan228]

Notes on a scorecard: Why Pop feels lucky to finish homestand 6-0 (http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursnation/2010/12/16/notes-on-a-scorecard-why-pop-feels-lucky-to-finish-6-0-on-homestand/)
Tim Griffin

...Popovich had a different tact after the game, delivering an opening statement before answering any questions. He hasn’t done that this season, make it appear that he was as angry about his team’s performance in the victory as he has been this season. Popovich said the Bucks were more aggressive and the Spurs’ defensive let up in the second half, leading to what he called “a lucky win.” It won’t make for a pleasant trip as he gets ready for Carmelo Anthony and the Nuggets tomorrow night.

http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursnation/2010/12/16/notes-on-a-scorecard-why-pop-feels-lucky-to-finish-6-0-on-homestand/

[duncan228]

San Antonio Spurs 92, Milwaukee Bucks 90: Manu Ginobili is a bad man (http://www.48minutesofhell.com/)
by Andrew A. McNeill
48 Minutes of Hell

AT&T CENTER — Our protagonist is slouched on a folding chair in an interview room in the AT&T Center getting ready to talk to Andrew Monaco for the Spurs’ post game show. Manu Ginobili sits, completely focused on absolutely nothing. Occasionally he glances up with an expressionless face at random people entering the room.

For a man who just hit a step-back, game winning jump shot as time expired in the Spurs’ 92-90 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks not even five minutes ago, Ginobili is very somber. Ginobili’s shoes, socks and ankle tape have all been removed and he sits wearing just his uniform, a pair of sandals and his thoughts.

Keep reading → (http://www.48minutesofhell.com/san-antonio-spurs-92-milwaukee-bucks-90-manu-ginobili-game-winner#more-11858)

[Dex]

Views from the Other Side:



http://www.jsonline.com/sports/bucks/111967924.html

Bucks' hopes shot down by Spurs' Ginobili
Jumper at buzzer ends chances of comeback win
By Charles F. Gardner
Dec. 15, 2010

San Antonio — Manu Ginobili's buzzer-beating jumper foiled an inspired comeback by the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night.

San Antonio's veteran guard was blanketed by Bucks forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute but somehow hit a fadeaway 17-footer to give the Spurs a 92-90 victory at the AT&T Center.

The Bucks (10-14) failed in their quest for a Texas triple after beating Houston and Dallas in the two previous games, but they still picked up a huge dose of confidence after rallying from an 18-point, second-quarter deficit and having a chance to take the lead on their final possession.

San Antonio (21-3) swept its six-game home stand but finally had to fight for a victory after beating its four previous opponents by 15 points or more.

Bucks coach Scott Skiles was unhappy with his team's execution on its final possession, when Mbah a Moute missed a shot after a play broke down.

"We were trying to go inside to Bogues (Andrew Bogut), and he got shoved under the basket," Skiles said. "We've got to get a shot there. We can't dribble it down to nothing and just throw it to somebody.

"After traveling, they made a great shot."

Skiles said he looked at the film several times and thought Ginobili had traveled when bumped slightly by Mbah a Moute, who forced the Spurs player to take a tough shot while fading back.

"Luc had great D on him," Skiles said. "There was a little bit of contact there. But it was an unbelievably difficult shot. You've got to give him credit there. It was great D and a great shot."

Ginobili's clutch jumper saved the Spurs, who had three shots rejected by Bogut in the last 2 minutes, two by Ginobili and one by Tony Parker.

Bogut's first block on Ginobili set up a tip-in by Drew Gooden to tie the score at 90-90 with 49.7 seconds left. Again Ginobili drove and had his shot wiped away, but the Bucks could not get the go-ahead basket.

Skiles said the play was designed to go to Bogut, but Gooden saw Ginobili cutting off the passing angle and decided not to make the entry pass.

That left it to Brandon Jennings, but he was unable to get a clean look and passed to Mbah a Moute.

"If you tell us there's going to be a tie game with 30 seconds left and our ball, on the road, you take it," Bogut said.

"We obviously didn't have great position that last one. I got my arm taken off. (Tim) Duncan did; I've got a gash on my arm from here to here. That's part of basketball. They missed it and that's just the way it goes."

Ginobili led the Spurs with 26 points, and Parker added 16 points and eight assists. Duncan contributed 13 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocks.

But Bogut matched Duncan's total with seven blocks.

"I was lucky I was there early in transition and contested them," Bogut said. "They're not checking who the league leader in blocks in the NBA is. I took them by surprise, I guess."

Chris Douglas-Roberts continued to give the Bucks offense a boost, leading the team with 21 points. Gooden came off the bench for the second straight game and had a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds.

"It's a very tough loss," said Gooden, who scored 16 points in the fourth quarter. "I feel like it's a mirror image of the Dallas game, starting slow and starting off in the hole.

"Then coming back and fighting all the way to the last possession, to lose like that is just a heartbreaker. But it shouldn't have come down to one shot."

Gooden said the Spurs' poise showed when they could shoot 52.2% from the field despite 10 blocked shots by the Bucks.

"We've got to play a full game," Skiles said. "We've got to get past the point where we're searching and mixing and matching and trying to find out how we can come back in a game.

"We battled back, great effort, and hung in there. But we're putting a lot of pressure on ourselves when we play like that. We weren't sharp on either end (in the first half). We weren't able to get back on defense. We gave up too much penetration, but fortunately for us in the second half Bogues erased quite a few of those that came in there."