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JMcDonald_SAEN
#spurs injury report vs. Rockets: Bonner (ankle) still out. Hill (neck) upgraded to probable.
Game is Saturday 6:30 CST.
Houston (0-4) at San Antonio (3-1)
Tipoff: 8:30 pm EDT Sat Nov 6, 2010
TV: KTXH, KENS
By Matt Beardmore
An offseason focused on sharpening his skills seems to be paying off for Spurs forward Richard Jefferson. The Houston Rockets might benefit from getting back to basics as well.
Jefferson and the Spurs look to match their best start since 2007-08 when they face the winless Rockets at the AT&T Center on Saturday night.
Jefferson struggled in his first season with the Spurs, averaging 12.3 points and shooting 31.6 percent from 3-point range in 2009-10. San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich took steps to avoid a repeat performance this season.
“We worked him all summer long on basic fundamentals to get some rust off of him and get him back to the solid habits he had at (the University of) Arizona,” said Popovich, whose team also opened 3-1 in ’07-’08.
Jefferson now looks far more comfortable in Popovich’s system, leading the Spurs (3-1) with 20.0 points per game and going 8 of 15 from beyond the arc.
“Coming here, the offense is different and you have to learn how to be aggressive in this offense,” Jefferson said after scoring a season-high 28 points and hitting four fourth-quarter 3s in a 112-110 win at Phoenix on Wednesday. “That’s something that last year was tough. (Now) I know where I’m supposed to be and you can focus on different things.”
The Rockets (0-4) have plenty to focus on, most notably their defense. They are surrendering 114.5 points per game - 62.3 in the second half - and opponents are shooting 50.0 percent in the final 24 minutes compared to 40.6 before the break.
Leading at halftime for the fourth straight game, the Rockets allowed 64 second-half points in a 107-99 loss to New Orleans on Wednesday.
“There’s no easy answer,” said coach Rick Adelman, whose team split four games with the Spurs last season. “We just have to keep working at it until we break through.”
Houston last started 0-5 in 1999-2000.
“We have to learn the good things from the bad things,” said center Yao Ming, averaging 12.7 points and 7.3 rebounds. “We need to figure out where we need to improve. It’s not too late to turn the season (around).”
Averaging just 22 minutes per game due to his surgically repaired left foot, Yao will have to contend with Tim Duncan(notes), who passed George Gervin for second in team history in points with a season-high 25 versus the Suns.
Duncan is 81 points shy of moving past franchise leader David Robinson (20,790).
Point guard Tony Parker missed the last two matchups with the Rockets last season due to injury, but he is healthy and signed a four-year, $50 million extension last week.
Rockets point guard Aaron Brooks would like to regain his form from 2009-10, when he averaged a career-high 19.6 points with 5.3 assists and was named the league’s most improved player.
While Brooks is averaging 6.3 assists, his scoring is down (16.0) and he’s shooting 40.7 percent. He averaged 21.8 points and 4.3 assists versus the Spurs last season.
Houston leading scorer Kevin Martin will play his first game in San Antonio in a Rockets uniform. He was sidelined with injuries for both contests at the AT&T Center in 2009-10.
These Southwest Division rivals have split the last eight meetings in San Antonio since the Spurs’ 17-game home winning streak in the series.
*********************
Team Stat Leaders
Points
Kevin Martin Hou 23.2
Richard Jefferson SA 20.0
Rebounds
Luis Scola Hou 14.5
Tim Duncan SA 10.8
Assists
Aaron Brooks Hou 6.2
Tony Parker SA 7.0
JMcDonald_SAEN
#spurs injury report vs. Rockets: Bonner (ankle) still out. Hill (neck) upgraded to probable.
Kyle Lowry's Back Keeps Him Out Against Spurs
by Rivers McCown
After missing the first two games of the season with a bad back, Lowry will again sit against San Antonio on Sunday night. Jason Friedman of Rockets.com tweeted that Lowry would not make the trip with the team and was still considered day-to-day.
Aaron Brooks will probably get a bigger share of the playing time, and Ish Smith could steal between 10-20 minutes of time as well as the Rockets don't have anyone else on the roster really capable of playing point guard.
The Rockets will also probably be without Brad Miller, who continues to battle an ankle injury. That will give Jordan Hill a chunk of playing time again behind Yao Ming and Luis Scola.
Nice article by a Rockets fan (from the Truehoop network) -
On the NBA: The Innervation in San Antonio
by jacob mustafa
Philosophizing on league-wide issues and offering previews of upcoming opponents, ‘On the NBA’ is our new general NBA column. Today’s feature looks at tomorrow’s opponent, the San Antonio Spurs. – Ed.
Gregg Popovich does not have to prove anything to anyone. If his career closes with a slow fizzle, leaving him nothing more than an old man who collected a bunch of rings in his early years cast aside by a game that left him, he’d still be one of the greatest to ever pick up a clipboard and yell at men in short pants. With the jewelry on this man’s mantle, nothing can ever be taken from him; even his familiar cast of stars that exemplify his style of play constantly reminds all at home who these men are and what they’ve accomplished. Never are the Spurs dismissed or given anything other than the utmost of respect; for now and forever, they’re the champs. Except these aren’t the same aging, dilapidated champs we had all finally grown comfortable with because we thought we didn’t have to fear them anymore. No, the San Antonio Spurs are young but experienced, energetic but controlled: in other words, the Spurs are contenders.
Like delicious candy rain, options have suddenly started falling from the sky for Popovich; in the not too distant past, he saw a bench that exemplified entropy with its end-of-the-rope veterans and semi-skilled skill players. Men like Michael Finley and Glenn Robinson saw chances to go ring-chasing without having to change too much, and they gladly accepted; the problem is that this team has to find its way to the ring these days because the old stars aren’t coming to them (like most of the elderly, they’re headed to Florida). This team needed to build on the fly, while simultaneously sustaining Tim Duncan’s career long enough to unleash the dusty old death ray in one final, glorious playoff run. R.C. Buford and Popovich were left with entirely new jobs after ten years of building on the most solid foundation possible; they had to fill cracks in the base, fix what was once unbreakable, instead of plugging holes with 10-day-contracts and singular role players.
Whether you or I think George Hill, DeJuan Blair or Tiago Splitter will develop into true-blue, genuine stars feels insignificant when considering the idea that all three could be; the three (semi-)young talents with star potential are anomalies in the world of championship contenders. That kind of mass progress generally only can take place in a salted-earth scenario where years of draft picks grow together (Portland, OKC… the teams you want your team to be), but thanks almost exclusively to brilliant drafting on the part of management, the San Antonio Spurs are an up-and-coming young team in the West. The team just has a little more veteran firepower than most. It all seems very surreal, like an optical illusion: if you stare long and hard enough, this wasting collection of old men will begin to look like a burgeoning offensive power with veteran leadership. To be clear, their youth’s current, optimistic status among basketball observers seems far more tenuous than those of OKC or Portland, but Hill and Blair have been clearly brilliant at times over the last two years and possess brilliant skills (sharp shooting and rebounding like the Hulk would, respectively) that can always prove helpful to teams. Splitter remains untested on American soil, but his skillset seems serendipitously suited to the Spurs’ needs (HOLY SCHNIKES. Check out that incidental alliteration) with Duncan on the court. Popovich has always looked rather brilliant when entrusting his teams to his youth before any other sane coach would, and because he is Gregg Popovich, I think he will accurately judge whether these are the men for whom he’s been looking.
He has given viewers reasons to question the faith, though. At least far more often than they used to do so. The Richard Jefferson deal seemed like an anti-Spurs move, especially when he was resigned this offseason for four years, $38.8 million. To bet so hard on what were obviously diminishing results seemed unwise entering last season, and after his supernova of a flame out in 09-10, the new deal looked like the product of raw madness. Alas, the Spurs knew best; though he was not exactly what was needed, his talent at the wing would be hard to match on the fly, while Ginobili and Duncan still have feeling in their limbs and Parker’s name wasn’t being floated as a back-up plan in New York. So, the Spurs abide. San Antonio has all of the pieces, even if it doesn’t obviously reek of the talent necessary to make the grueling trudge to an NBA le. All of the bets are hedged on this team; if the rookie center doesn’t quite dominate, maybe Jefferson will have a comeback year after an offseason of rigorous training with Pop himself. If Duncan gets injured, maybe Blair will become that vacuum on the glass and turn those per minute rebound numbers into something tangible. As it is with most brilliantly but meticulously built teams, San Antonio can endure quite a few misfortunes and find itself on its feet, a luxury Popovich needs this time around.
Once again, Gregg Popovich does not have to prove anything to anyone. This is a year, though, that he can make something new happen. Because all-time great coaching is inexorably tied to great talent, so much of how we judge the men in ill-fitting suits comes down to sustained brilliance: that idea that no matter the look of a team, this guy can coach them into being something more than a bunch of good basketball players. For the first time in a couple of years, Pop has himself a beauty of a team on his hands. It also so happens to be one that may not be able to feature Tim Duncan as its unanimous best player, and those are uncharted waters for the Spurs’ coach. It will take tons of luck and more deft coaching, but his team has a chance to be special, challenge the Lakers and flex real muscle in this year’s postseason. Yeah, it could flounder and lead to another knockout in the first two rounds, an outcome that seems much more likely, but a chance at a le is a chance at a le. Those glints of hope are rare and amazing, and the Spurs’ veterans know exactly how hard it is to get them. Popovich does too, and he also knows that while he may not need to be legitimized, he’ll take the validation if it comes along with another ring.
Beat these scrubs.
If I was a betting man, given the Rockets troubles, I would bet on the Spurs. Cause right now we suck. Rockets are completely discombobulated.
I think that the coaches and players for the Rockets are coming out with their game faces on. I expect the Rockets to come out at Playoff Intensity. Expect a hard fought game with hard fouls. The Rockets to come out swinging.
Who wins this is anybody's guess.
Ok I guess the Spurs will win.
I hate playing against winless teams with talent..a lot of pressure is going to be on the Rockets..
trap game.
Parker/Ginobili/Jefferson will explode against the ty Rockets D.
Good, Lowry killed us last season
The Rockets have led at the end of the first half in all four games this season. They won the 1st, 2nd and 3rd quarters of their game with the Lakers.
Lowry and Miller are hurting so their depth is reduced but they are a wounded animal.
LOL Yao "Its not too late to turn the season around." No ing .
Easy money, bet against the Rockets.
Guaranteed lose, Rockets can't win this.
Nice writeup.
Rockets always, always play the Spurs tough. They are the type of gritty team that gives the Spurs problems. Scola is a tough cover for everyone on the Spurs . I hope to see Tiago on him...
They are not only wounded, they cannot afford to lose more games, esp to a division rival.
Wouldn't be surprised at all to see the rockets take this game, esp if Chris Quinn sees the floor for any length of time.
Splitter played good d on scola during the summer.
Brooks will have a good night. Scola will dominate Blair. Budinger should have a good game too. Hopefully the Spurs dont turn the ball over so much.
Rockets and Spurs are always intense games. I agree with the 'wounded animal' comment. Trap game.
Which would make the Spurs win all the sweeter...
Same. Not only that, but like SolidD said, they've led at the half in all four games. Eventually, even with Yao limited and Miller and Lowry out, they're going to breakthrough and win. There's too much depth and talent for them to not, plus it's law of averages. Which is why I was hoping they'd get the proverbial monkey off their back before they played the Spurs. As it is, the Spurs will be getting, not only a talented team, but a desperate one. Never a good combination, but also not an excuse to lose.
Agreed. Tiago knows Scola and he has always played great D on him (in international compe ion).
Pop must play Splitter extended minutes.
Good article.
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