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I'm sure he does care a little bit considering he's only 150 points away from 20,000 points in which only 32 players in the history of the NBA have achieved. Also, Dirk is only 70 points away from 20,000 points.
I'd prefer Ratliff, but either option I'd be in favor of. With Bonner out and Pop intent on keeping Duncan, McDyess and Blair's minutes managed, the Spurs need another big to eat up some minutes. To me, this was the perfect time to play Ratliff 10-15 mpg for a month, but Pop is so concerned with saving him for the playoffs (as if at any point he'll be needed for 40 mpg) that he uses him sparingly. Too often, the Spurs are playing one of Duncan, McDyess or Blair at center with Jefferson as the power forward; heck, I've even seen a lineup where Bogans is the power forward. It's ridiculous and they're lucky to have gotten away with it for the most part, but that doesn't mean it should continue until Bonner is back.
I'm sure he does care a little bit considering he's only 150 points away from 20,000 points in which only 32 players in the history of the NBA have achieved. Also, Dirk is only 70 points away from 20,000 points.
I'm sure he still doesn't care that much. When has TD ever been about the stats? All indications are, he just does what the teams need to win (ie. Pop going on and on and on and on about how coachable he's been his entire career)
So long as the Spurs are 20 pts up going into the 4th Q.
I still wonder what the Spurs saw in him to give him that contract.
Got the win tonight but they have got to clean up on those offensive boards that the Pistons got. Against better offensive teams that probably lead to a L.
Why can't people just admit that the Pistons aren't a very good team? I mean you can't say injuries is main reason for their struggles. The fact is they are at best a below average team. They are 11-23 and losers of 11 straight for a reason. It is because that team isn't very good.
The Spurs kept up the offensive pressure for the whole game and turned up the defense a lot in the 4th. Score B- for this one. That 1st half was not the best defense in the world. Side note: Man, I still like Rip. That guy is a good player and never seems to cause any drama. Would have been a great Spur.
Thanks! It's actually sad to see the Pistons go this low but hey, all teams rebuild. I believe that in a couple of years, the Pistons will be in the mix.
Hot-shooting Spurs get 23 from Parker in win over Detroit
By Tim Price, for NBA.com
SAN ANTONIO (NBA.com exclusive) -- There's still more than half a season to find out if the Spurs have built another championship team. But, so far, they have done this: it's beginning to look like the best shooting team in San Antonio in a decade and a half.
For the seventh time in the past nine games the Spurs shot better than 50 percent on Wednesday night, and that was never more apparent than when the Pistons -- who look peskier than their current streak of 11-straight losses indicates -- got close. Tied 19 seconds into the fourth quarter, the Spurs hit five of their next six shots and drew away from Detroit for a 112-92 victory at AT&T Center.
"I think our energy turned up," said Roger Mason Jr., who had a driving layup and a midrange jumper in that run early in the fourth quarter when the Spurs missed just one shot and blew out to an 88-77 lead after being tied just 2:48 earlier. "We got stops, and on the other end we really shared the ball and executed."
Tony Parker scored 23 points on 8-for-16 shooting. In fact, every San Antonio player that took a shot hit 50 percent or better, from garbage-time reserve Marcus Haislip's 1 for 2 to Richard Jefferson's 7 for 10.
After a blip in the loss column on the road three nights ago in Toronto, the Spurs (21-12) have won six of their last seven and 12 of the last 15 since a three-game losing streak the first week of December.
As far as the Spurs' hot shooting, this time they hit 58 percent from the floor. That was capped off when they outscored Detroit 35-17 in the fourth quarter and hit 15 of 20.
San Antonio is third in the league this season in shooting percentage. The Spurs are hitting 48 percent, and that would make for their best percentage since the 1994-95 team hit 48 percent.
"It's not magic. They go in or they don't," coach Gregg Popovich said. "That's why you try to play defense, because you can always count on that."
And it's what made Detroit (11-23) wilt. The Pistons committed half of their 16 turnovers in the fourth quarter, and the Spurs scored 14 points off those final-quarter mistakes.
"I thought we played very aggressive in the first three quarters, then in the fourth quarter we didn't take care of the basketball," Detroit coach John Kuester said. "We only had two turnovers in the first half, and we ended up having 14 turnovers in the second half.
"When you're on the road you don't want to put yourself in a position where you beat yourselves. That's what happened tonight. The Spurs were the aggressors."
And, after finally putting a cap on their own turnovers by making one mistake in the fourth quarter after 11 in the first three, the Spurs were very efficient with the ball.
San Antonio had 30 assists on 43 baskets. The Spurs knocked down 8 of 14 3-pointers. They outscored Detroit 24-15 on the fast break, including 12-0 in the second quarter.
"Pop is always on us about moving the ball and hitting the first open man," Jefferson said. "There is no need to keep searching for your shot. You dump it off to the first open man and everything kind of materializes from there."
The Spurs hit all four of their 3-pointers in the second quarter, but the fast break was really the key in allowing them to break open a 40-40 tie into a 59-52 halftime lead. After that tie score with 6:10 to go, San Antonio scored on four fast breaks. That included a 3-point play by Manu Ginobili, and the Spurs overall went on a 7-for-9 streak from the floor to close out the half with a seven-point lead.
"They made runs," said Richard Hamilton, who led Detroit with 29 points after going 12 for 22. "They do what they do. We just have to be better, have to be poised at the beginning of quarters and also finish quarters."
Hamilton is one of the Pistons' few bright spots. He's 20 for 36 the past two nights after going 13 for 54 in the in the first three games following his return from a sore right hamstring.
The Spurs started the game by hitting five of their first six shots, but their fourth turnover in the first 7:58 attributed to the Pistons' 22-18 lead. Hamilton was the beneficiary as he picked up a loose ball after Ben Wallace's steal of Tim Duncan down low and raced almost full court for a layup over Mason. He hit a free throw after Mason's foul and had 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting in the first quarter.
He was 2 for 3 in the decisive fourth quarter including a 3-pointer, but the rest of the starters failed to score as the Spurs pulled away.
"We knew at the end of the game we needed to turn it up and try to get the breaking point," Mason said.
It was apparent they did.
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