Spurs at Nets Previews

[duncan228]

Game is Monday, 6:00 CST on NBA TV.


San Antonio (45-9) at New Jersey (17-38) (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/preview?gid=2011021417)
Tipoff: 7:00 pm EST Mon Feb 14, 2011
TV: FSSW, YES
By Jeff Bartl

The San Antonio Spurs were able to rest their starters as they capped a stretch of four games in five nights with a much-needed rout. That probably doesn’t bode well for the New Jersey Nets.

San Antonio faces New Jersey on Monday night looking for its sixth victory in seven games as it nears the end of a nine-game road trip.

Spurs coach Greg Popovich made his first change to the starting five this season in a 118-94 victory over Washington on Saturday, inserting George Hill in place of Manu Ginobili. Hill scored 18 points and went 4 of 4 from 3-point range, while Ginobili played only eight-plus minutes and had six points.

Tim Duncan played 12 minutes - his fewest since Dec. 2, 2007 - and also scored six.

“It’s huge for us,” Ginobili said. “We earned ourselves the possibility to rest a little bit, and it’s well-needed.”

The victory came after San Antonio (46-9) had its worst offensive output in nearly three seasons in a 77-71 loss to Philadelphia on Friday. The Spurs shot a season-low 33.3 percent from the field.

San Antonio made 58.4 percent of its shots Saturday, with Tony Parker scoring 18 points.

“It’s just one of those games,” Parker said. “Coming back from a tough game (Friday), we didn’t shoot the ball well, (Saturday) everything was going in.”

The turnaround helped the Spurs move to 5-2 on their longest trip of the season and improve to an NBA-best 20-7 away from home.

A better-rested San Antonio team will face a New Jersey club that lost for the sixth time in nine games Saturday, 105-95 to New York.

The Knicks, playing without star Amare Stoudemire, shot 47.1 percent from 3-point range as the New Jersey (17-38) missed out on its first three-game winning streak since a four-game run Jan. 31-Feb. 7, 2009.

“With a team like that, with the way they shoot the ball, you’ve got to hold their percentage on 3-pointers down,” said guard Devin Harris, who scored a game-high 22 points but had five turnovers. “We didn’t do a good job of rotating. We gave them wide-open shots in their sweet spots.”

New Jersey may need to improve quickly when it comes to defending the arc. San Antonio went 13 of 25 on 3s on Saturday and is near the top of the league in 3-point shooting at 39.5 percent.

Harris scored 16 points in a win over Charlotte on Friday, and has back-to-back double-digit scoring efforts for the first time since Jan. 24 and 26. He’s averaged 19.8 points in his last five games against San Antonio.

Rookie Derrick Favors had nine points and a season-high 14 rebounds versus the Knicks.

Center Brook Lopez scored 22 points and grabbed 12 boards as the Nets ended a 14-game losing streak against the Spurs with a 90-84 home victory March 29, the teams’ last meeting.

*********************

Team Stat Leaders

Points
Manu Ginobili SA 17.8
Brook Lopez NJ 19.6

Rebounds
Tim Duncan SA 9.2
Kris Humphries NJ 9.4

Assists
Tony Parker SA 6.7
Devin Harris NJ 7.7

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/preview?gid=2011021417

[timtonymanu]

I still remember that pathetic loss against them last year. Spurs should win this.

[ElNono]

I'll be there!!! Finally found courtside tix right in front of the Spurs bench for a reasonable price!!!

[mingus]

yeah, i had tix right behind the Spurs bench for the Laker's game. it was my first time sitting so close. before the game started i thought i'd be able to hear everyone talking on the bench but unfortunately it's too loud.

[spurs10]

I'll be there!!! Finally found courtside tix right in front of the Spurs bench for a reasonable price!!!
Sounds fun. When you say in front of their bench, you must mean directly across the court from them....?? Make a lot of noise!!:toast

[ElNono]

Sounds fun. When you say in front of their bench, you must mean directly across the court from them....?? Make a lot of noise!!:toast

I'll be actually in the 2nd row behind the rim, close to the bench... something like this:

http://i53.tinypic.com/n5lsv8.png

[ElNono]

First time at the Prudential Center since they moved out of Continental Arena... should be fun...

[duncan228]

I'll be there!!! Finally found courtside tix right in front of the Spurs bench for a reasonable price!!!

Hope you have a great time !

[duncan228]

Nets coach Avery Johnson wants team to be known for its outside game (http://www.nj.com/nets/index.ssf/2011/02/nets_coach_avery_johnson_wants_1.html)
By Colin Stephenson/The Star-Ledger

Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov once said he doesn’t want his team to emulate the Knicks — that he’d rather copy the two-time defending NBA champion Lakers, instead.

But there is one thing the Knicks do that Nets coach Avery Johnson would love to make part of his team’s makeup.

Johnson wants the Nets to become a fearsome 3-point shooting team, as their cross-river rivals have proved themselves to be.

The Knicks dropped 16 3-pointers in defeating the Nets, 105-95, in the Prudential Center on Saturday night, and if Johnson has his way, the Nets will be doing that to people in the future.

“Oh yeah,” Johnson said when asked if he wants his team to become known for its 3-point shooting. “This is the way the game is now. That’s why (the Nets’ 3-point shooters) will tell you they do not have any restrictions on 3s. As much as people want to say about us being a little bit more disciplined team, I’m liberal in that area, especially with guys who can shoot 3s.”

With Anthony Morrow, Sasha Vujacic, Jordan Farmar and even Travis Outlaw, Johnson believes the Nets have a good quartet of 3-point shooters. “When those guys are on from behind the 3-point line, we could be a pretty impressive 3-point shooting team,” Johnson said. “When three out of four of those guys are on, we’re better in all facets of our game.”

Looking back: Johnson had the best years of his playing career playing with the San Antonio Spurs under Gregg Popovich, including winning an NBA championship in 1999. So it’s only natural that, as a coach, he should do at least some things the same way the Spurs did them when he was a player.

According to Devin Harris, the Nets’ defense is very similar to the Spurs’.

“Our system is sort of the same,” Harris said.

As such, Harris said, the Nets ought to know how to attack the Spurs’ defense when they play them Monday night at the Prudential Center. The key, he said, is to attack them in transition.

“With a team like that, you’ve got to push the pace,” he said. “You don’t want to go against their half-court defense because it’s solid. We’ve got to push the ball, and try to score in the first 6, 7 seconds. We don’t want to spend a lot time in their half-court defense.”

http://www.nj.com/nets/index.ssf/2011/02/nets_coach_avery_johnson_wants_1.html

[ElNono]

Hope you have a great time !

Thank you! :toast

[TampaDude]

I still remember that pathetic loss against them last year. Spurs should win this.

Yup...it's gonna be another blowout. :toast

[ElNono]

Manu didn't play last season... it was BS... I only found out when I got there... :depressed

[siraulo23]

Manu didn't play last season... it was BS... I only found out when I got there... :depressed

TP didnt play also, i think

[TheSpursFNRule]

I'll be there!!! Finally found courtside tix right in front of the Spurs bench for a reasonable price!!!

I will be there as well. Representin Spurs fans in NJ.

[duncan228]

Popovich minding minutes (http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursnation/2011/02/14/popovich-minding-minutes/)
Jeff McDonald

Spurs guard Manu Ginobili is expected to return to the starting lineup tonight at New Jersey after a one-game shift to the bench Saturday night in Washington, meant to mitigate the effects of four games in five nights.


...If there’s one thing Ginobili’s brief return to the bench underscores, however, it is Popovich’s commitment to keeping his older veterans rested and fresh.

“If you start him, he’s going to have more minutes,” Popovich said, explaining Saturday’s lineup decision. “We wanted to bring him off the bench, so that if we needed him in the end, he wouldn’t have so many minutes on him.”

http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursnation/2011/02/14/popovich-minding-minutes/

*********************

Nets coach pounding the rock (http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursnation/2011/02/14/nets-coach-pounding-the-rock/)
Mike Monroe

http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursnation/2011/02/14/nets-coach-pounding-the-rock/

*********************


Monday: Spurs (45-9) at Nets (17-38) (http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursnation/2011/02/14/monday-spurs-45-9-at-nets-17-38/)
Jeff McDonald

...Having already clinched a winning record on the rodeo road trip, going 5-2 with two games left, Spurs face Nets team that has lost four of its past six...Spurs provided Nets with one of their 12 wins last season, falling 90-84 at the Izod Center...

http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursnation/2011/02/14/monday-spurs-45-9-at-nets-17-38/

[Fireball]

Have to win this one, then a loss in Chicago might be bearable ...

[TDMVPDPOY]

i hope gary neal makes the nets his bitch

[Texas_Ranger]

don't let that Vujačič guy stop Manu.

[shelshor]

http://www.nba.com/news/referee.html
Referee Assignments
Mon. Feb. 14
San Antonio @ New Jersey: Ed Malloy; Rodney Mott; Haywoode Workman

[TampaDude]

Sweet...we get to make Vujabitch cry tonight! :lol

GO SPURS GO!!!!!

[Brutalis]

We'll see if Sasha "feels like" getting 30 tonight. Cause we all know he can whenever he wants.

SA 106
NJ 91

[duncan228]

Advanced Scouting: San Antonio Spurs at New Jersey Nets (http://www.48minutesofhell.com/spurs-stats-advanced-scouting-new-jersey-net)
by Scott Sereday
48 Minutes of Hell

http://www.48minutesofhell.com/spurs-stats-advanced-scouting-new-jersey-net

[duncan228]

Tiago Splitter (hamstring) out again tonight vs. Nets.

[JR3]

Won't be watching this one tonight. I have a valentine. Glad its the nets.

[duncan228]

Nets coach Avery Johnson not expecting Spurs to take it easy on him (http://www.nj.com/nets/index.ssf/2011/02/nets_coach_avery_johnson_not_e.html)
By Colin Stephenson/The Star-Ledger

Avery Johnson got a chance to hang out with his coaching mentor, Gregg Popovich, Sunday night, and the two shared some laughs and some old stories.

But that doesn't mean Johnson can expect his old coach to take it easy on him when Popovich's San Antonio Spurs -- who own the NBA's best record, at 45-9 -- visit Johnson's Nets tonight at Prudential Center.

"Not at all,'' Johnson said. "We’re pretty competitive people, so we’ll say all of that mushy stuff before the game, but we’re really trying to kick each other’s posterior when the game starts… That’s the way it is. The Spurs no longer employ me. It’s all about the Nets, and that’s trying to get the job done for our team, and our players to grow – that’s what it’s all about.''

The Spurs, who will be playing the eighth game of a nine-game road trip, are 5-2 on the trip, losing the first game, Feb. 1, at Portland, and dropping a 77-71 decision Friday in Philadelphia.

Nets point guard Devin Harris said he isn't surprised at what the Spurs are doing, even though they would seem to be an aging group, with Tim Duncan being 34 now, and Manu Ginobili 33, and Tony Parker -- while still under 30, at 28 -- having so many miles on his point guard body.

"That group, they’ve played so many games together, they know how to win games,'' Harris said. "I think more surprising is the way their bench has been playing and the way they’re developing. The (Gary) Neal kid, just kind of the way he’s shooting the ball, obviously, (Matt) Bonner, his abilities.''

Neal, a 6-4 rookie guard from Towson, is averaging 8.6 points per game and shooting 40 percent from 3-point range. Bonner, a 6-10 backup forward/center, is averaging 7.5 points per game and shooting 50.8 percent from 3-point range.

http://www.nj.com/nets/index.ssf/2011/02/nets_coach_avery_johnson_not_e.html

[Fireball]

Tiago Splitter (hamstring) out again tonight vs. Nets

I really would like to kick Manu ... I mean his sneaky foul on Calderon caused Splitters injury in the first place. So sad :depressed

[silverblk mystix]

I really would like to kick Manu ... I mean his sneaky foul on Calderon caused Splitters injury in the first place. So sad :depressed

That's how I felt when it happened...but shit happens...of course Manu probably feels worse about it than we do...

[duncan228]

Just the Spurs part, hit the link for it all.


Nets coach focused on Spurs, not Anthony (http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/nets/johnson_keeps_focus_on_san_antonio_WSBYibKciTzF2kd BXT1VOO)
By Fred Kerber
The New York Post

...The first order of business is facing the NBA's best, the Spurs, tonight in Newark, where Avery Johnson admits he'll feel a "soft spot" for the opposition and his mentor, Gregg Popovich.

Johnson squared off against him while coaching Dallas, but admits every time can feel like the first time.

"Any time I face San Antonio, you've got a big soft spot for them because they mean so much to me," said Johnson, who hit the winning shot in the 1999 NBA Finals, clinching Game 5 for Popovich's Spurs against the Knicks.

"I mean, my jersey's retired in the AT&T Center. Pop means so much to me. Tim [Duncan] means so much to me. Peter Holt the owner. R.C. Buford the GM," Johnson added. "We just go so far back and we're still friends until this day. So it means a lot. Obviously, when the ball goes up, we'll try to do our best to win the game, but Pop is my mentor and it's going to be a pretty good night."

Johnson readily acknowledges Popovich's strong influence on his coaching. What did he take first and foremost from the Spurs' four-time championship coach?

"More than anything, just be consistent. Consistency and discipline. That's what he's good at," Johnson said. "And he really does a great job of communicating with his players where there's no gray area."


..."With a team like that, you've got to push the pace," said Devin Harris. "You don't want to go against their half-court defense. It's solid. We have similarities in what we do as far as where they like to go so we should know how to attack it."

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/nets/johnson_keeps_focus_on_san_antonio_WSBYibKciTzF2kd BXT1VOO

[duncan228]

Nets’ Avery Johnson eager for visit from Spurs' Gregg Popovich (http://www.northjersey.com/sports/021411_Nets_Avery_Johnson_eager_for_visit_from_Spu rs_Gregg_Popovich.html)
By Al Iannazzone
The Record

Before he was in charge in San Antonio, Gregg Popovich was given the assignment of cutting Avery Johnson before Christmas in 1991. Popovich hated doing it, but he went to Johnson’s place and helped him pack.

When Popovich took over the Spurs’ basketball department he made sure he brought Johnson back, signing him to his first multi-year contract in 1994.

“I loved giving that to him,” Popovich said. “We’ve been close and sharing ideas for a long time.”

Johnson and Popovich try to speak every week and tonight will be on opposing sidelines when the Nets face the Spurs at Prudential Center. Popovich’s influence is all over Johnson’s coaching style as he is hard-driving, vocal and stresses defense.

In a perfect world, Johnson would like to build “a program” similar to what Popovich has in San Antonio. (They both use the word “program,” by the way). It helps when you have David Robinson and later Tim Duncan. The Nets (17-38) obviously need to upgrade their roster.

Johnson, who began this season with the NBA’s best winning percentage as a head coach (.735), is losing at a clip he’s probably never experienced. Many people keep waiting for him to snap, as the Nets repeatedly come out with little energy and have defensive and schematic breakdowns – as they did in Saturday’s 105-95 loss to the Knicks, allowing New York to shoot 16-for-34 from three. But Popovich said Johnson can be patient because he understands the Nets are a major work-in-progress.

“He’s highly intelligent and understands completely the situation he’s in,” Popovich said. “He knows it’s going to take time. He knows who he has on his team. He knows what the abilities are, what the standards are. He knows what it’s like to win a championship so he knows he’s got a long way to go.

“Right now he’s interested in teaching and seeing who wants to compete, who can learn, who can improve. That’s how he’s going to move forward and decide who should be with that group.
The Nets were ready to trade more than half their roster, including Devin Harris and Derrick Favors, for Carmelo Anthony. But owner Mikhail Prokhorov told general manager Billy King to back out of talks last month.

The trade deadline is Feb. 24. People inside and outside of the Nets’ organization believe Denver will call between now and then. If they can’t get Anthony, the Nets will have to go another route to try to build a winning program.

“According to [Johnson] everybody is patient because everybody understands the situation,” Popovich said. “That is really important because too much in the league people get jumpy and have knee-jerk reactions. I think they know what they’re doing as far as the situation is concerned.”

http://www.northjersey.com/sports/021411_Nets_Avery_Johnson_eager_for_visit_from_Spu rs_Gregg_Popovich.html

[Penya]

Tiago is back to San Antonio, won't play @ Chicago.