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Is it televised in Austin???
By an odd quirk of scheduling, I get to see each of the Pacers' next two games live. I'm going to the game here tonight and then will be at Conseco on Friday night to see the Pacers and Rockets.
Guess I'll know them pretty well by the end of the week. . . .
Granger's good. It's going to take a great effort by the Spurs to have any real chance to slow him down, even a tad. Since sitting out 2 games before Christmas, Granger has been scoring a lot, but he's been shooting it pretty well, too. He's been better than 45% from the field in 10 of his last 14 games (and almost 46% from the field in those 14 games) in rolling to his nearly 30 ppg average over that stretch. He's a beast right now and nobody seems to have figured out how to really slow him down very much.
Is it televised in Austin???
Spurs Team Report
Gregg Popovich saw this one coming. Just as he predicted during a retirement party for Don Nelson in Dallas years ago, Popovich knew the same about Larry Brown. Popovich wasn’t surprised when either returned to the sidelines. A former assistant to Nelson and Brown, Popovich squared off against the latter Monday in Charlotte.
“Every time he takes one of those pseudo-management kind of jobs, you just sort of laugh,” said Popovich, referring to Brown’s short stint in Philadelphia after being fired by New York.
“You know he’s going crazy up there. He enjoys the compe iveness and the teaching that comes with being a coach. He’s not going to stay out of it.”
The Spurs coach likes what he sees out of Brown’s team. The Bobcats have traded for Raja Bell, Boris Diaw and DeSagana Diop, and have been more compe ive lately.
“They’re either winning or playing people tougher now,” Popovich said. “The talent they have didn’t say that at the beginning of the year. He’s whipped them into shape, and now they’re believing in themselves a whole lot more.”
Spurs 86, Bobcats 84: San Antonio finished off a three-game road trip at 2-1 after holding on Monday afternoon to beat Charlotte. The Southwest Division-leading Spurs (27-13) return to Texas a solid second in the Western Conference.
Tim Duncan led San Antonio in the defensive struggle with 17 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. Tony Parker added 13 points and 10 assists, as the Spurs rallied from nine down in the third quarter.
Raja Bell scored 25 points for Charlotte, while former Suns teammate Boris Diaw had 16 points and 13 boards. Diaw also missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have won the game.
Notes, Quotes
• The Spurs have never finished lower than fifth in field-goal percentage defense in Gregg Popovich’s 11 full seasons as coach. San Antonio ranked No. 21 going into Monday. The Spurs were at their worst during a recent three-game stretch, giving up 108.3 points while going 1-2. They’ve since responded by allowing 87 and 84 points in victories over Chicago and Charlotte, respectively.
None of the Spurs are prepared to say all is better. And don’t bother bringing up their record as a sign that things are OK.
“The only thing that’s saving us is that everybody else is beating everybody else up, so our record looks basically as good as anybody else’s,” Popovich said. “It’s fool’s gold.”
• G George Hill has played twice this season against Chicago point guard Derrick Rose, the No. 1 pick and early Rookie of the Year favorite. Hill would enjoy nothing more than to join Rose in the rookie-sop re game during NBA All-Star Weekend in Phoenix. Rose is assured a spot, while Hill has made a strong case to earn an invite.
“I’d love to play with him,” said Hill, who started early this season and has remained in the rotation. “I’d love to be a part of that whole thing.”
QUOTE TO NOTE: “We suck on D.”—Coach Gregg Popovich on the Spurs ranking in the lower third in field-goal percentage defense.
Roster Report
Rotation:
Starters—Point guard Tony Parker, Shooting guard Roger Mason, Small forward Michael Finley, Power forward Tim Duncan, Center Matt Bonner.
Bench—Forward Kurt Thomas, Guard Manu Ginobili, Forward Ime Udoka, Forward Bruce Bowen, Center Fabricio Oberto, Guard George Hill.
Player Notes:
• F Tim Duncan signed autographs and posed for pictures with more than three dozen Wake Forest fans before Monday’s game at Charlotte. Duncan’s alma mater became the top-ranked team in the country later in the day.
Duncan finished the return to North Carolina in fine fashion with a double-double (17 points and 11 rebounds) and his block of Bobcats G Raymond Felton in the final seconds helped preserve the win.
• F Bruce Bowen appears to be taking a bigger role in the rotation. In the first two games of the just-completed three-game road trip, Bowen played 23 minutes off the bench at Philadelphia and followed it up with 19 at Chicago. The defensive stopper hadn’t logged that many minutes in consecutive games since December. He finished the trip with 16:30 of playing time Monday at Charlotte.
• G Manu Ginobili was the only Spur to make a basket in the last four minutes of Monday’s win at Charlotte. His consecutive 3-pointers gave San Antonio a lead with 3:30 left that it wouldn’t relinquish. Ginobili had made only two shots in nine attempts before those 3-pointers. He ended up with 10 points.
Medical Watch:
• C Ian Mahinmi (sprained ankle) is inactive.
Are we into month five of his recovery? That's gotta be some sort of record . . .Medical Watch:
• C Ian Mahinmi (sprained ankle) is inactive.
I think Beno just took a break from his mid-afternoon breakfast taco to scoff at Ian's toughness.
Well played.
I agree-- it's strange that he's not getting more press coverage. He's averaging 12.3 ppg, 11.3 rpg, 2.5 apg, and shooting 41% on three pointers. Those are pretty outstanding numbers.
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