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Pop looked so cute on teh sidelines.
Updated version.
Spurs at full power
By Mike Monroe
The Spurs are 4-0 with Roger Mason Jr. as their starting point guard, but Mason knows a demotion is coming.
Tony Parker was back in uniform for Friday's 109-98 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies at the AT&T Center. Mason was certain that by the time the Spurs landed in Houston after a postgame flight, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich would have Parker's name penciled into his starting lineup for tonight's game against the Rockets.
“Tony is an All-Star,” said Mason, who led the Spurs with 20 points Friday.
Indeed, Parker looked every bit the two-time All-Star and 2007 NBA Finals MVP in his first game action since suffering a grade-two left ankle sprain during a Nov. 7 loss to Miami. In 16:33, Parker scored 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting and added seven assists.
Parker had wanted to play in Wednesday's game against the Chicago Bulls, but Popovich, always erring on the side of caution, made him wait one more game.
“You know Pop,” Parker said. “He wanted me to be very careful and take my time.”
Popovich made Parker wait until the start of the second quarter against Memphis to take the floor. When he got there, he wasted no time showing his coach there were no lingering effects from the ankle sprain and no rust on his game.
The first time Parker touched the ball, he drove to the middle of the lane, waited for the defense to collapse on him, then pitched the ball out to Matt Bonner, wide open 20 feet from the basket. Bonner drained the uncontested shot.
Parker crossed over on Kyle Lowry on his next trip, but was whistled for charging into Grizzlies rookie Marc Gasol.
After making his first shot of the game, a 20-foot jumper, Parker drove to the rim, but passed to Bonner for a reverse layin.
By the time he finished off a five-possession comeback tour with a perfect bounce pass to a cutting Fabricio Oberto for a layup, the Spurs coaches were looking at one another and suppressing grins.
“Tony did a fine job,” Popovich said. “He really moved the basketball well and made great decisions. His rhythm looked good. He's back.”
Mason was happy, too.
“He's going to get a lot of attention out there, and I love that,” said Mason, who made 4 of 6 3-point attempts. “Put all the attention on Tony and Manu (Ginobili) , and it's great for us — George (Hill) and Fin (Michael Finley) and me. It opens up the floor for everybody.”
Having missed the preseason and the first 12 regular-season games, Manu Ginobili's comeback tour is taking longer to complete, but he was pretty effective in his third game since returning against the Grizzlies on Monday. In fact, Grizzlies coach Marc Iavaroni must be getting tired of Popovich using his team, which features the NBA's youngest starting five, as lab rats.
On Friday, the Grizzlies almost found their way through the maze. With rookie guard O.J. Mayo scoring 15 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter, the Grizzlies were within three points of the Spurs with seven minutes remaining.
Three steals — two by Spurs forward Ime Udoka, one by Hill — turned the momentum back to the Spurs.
“Ime and George both made some steals and hustle plays, some great rotations defensively,” Popovich said. “It was a six or seven-point game, and this is the NBA. Those things can turn sour. But two or three steals right there ended the game, and those two guys were the ones responsible.”
Last edited by duncan228; 11-29-2008 at 02:22 AM.
Pop looked so cute on teh sidelines.
Nice read, thanks so much 228. Its always a pleasure not having togo elsewhere and look for stuff. Keep up the great work.
at the blatant asskissing.
why does he even bother.
Just wanted to say it's great to see Tony back and healthy.
Not quite Mikey, but it was great to see Tim, Tony, and Manu out there at the same time.Spurs at full power
By Mike Monroe
Its a mistake to bring him back so soon.
It's not ass-kissing, it's sarcasm. He hasn't changed his opinion on 'copy and paste', he thinks that they're not worthwhile contributions to the board. But, for some reason, he sure has something to say in every one of them.
I'll trust the medical/coaching staff on this decision. They are pretty cautious.
The guy's as big an ass as anyone on ST - and normally I don't mind that. It's part of what makes this board so entertaining.
It's his holier-than-thou act that gets irritating.
it's a chemistry issue not medical. after all, manu has only been back a few games. inserting parker this early would mean further disruption. at least have the team reacquainted with manu first. a couple of more games wouldn't have hurt.
didn't this board use to punish copy/paste haters with copy/paste of worthless info like that reflection on marxism piece?
Exactly...I shudder to think anyone believes that we're playing at any better than 80%.Not quite Mikey, but it was great to see Tim, Tony, and Manu out there at the same time.
I'll have to disagree on that one.
Better to mix everything up now, than to have possible delays in full team integration going into the new year.
Having everyone play tonight gave pop a chance to look at how players work together. There really are a lot of possible rotations. Mason can play 3 positions, and Hill hopefully can play 2.
Your both are missing your guesses. But it seems to entertain the both of ya. ankha is just mad because that nic will never get off my ignore. I really really enjoy reading 227+1s posts. Her copy and pasting saves time for people who goto sports sights to read basically about the spurs. 228 saves that time. No more No less. Keep up the great work 228. And its to bad I have to waste my typing on someone like ankha. But its all good.
I couldn't care less if I never get off your ignore list, because it means you still can't take the fact that your bull gets called out.
duncan228, so that you know: i sincerely appreciate your finding the Spurs news and put them here.
The same goes for me.duncan228, so that you know: i sincerely appreciate your finding the Spurs news and put them here.
mrspurs, are you the one who once used the term "...high paying job" to indicate what duncan228 does? If so, stop the double talk.
We'll definitely need at least 10 games or so to be back at 100%. Not only are Tony and Manu slowly having to get back in game shape and re-adjust to the speed of the game, but all the new players will have to adjust to Tony and Manu. Tall order. It'll take some time so there will be alot of confusion till then-just hope we keep picking up wins in the meantime.
Who is the odd man out...Finley or Hill. They will both play, but one will see majorreduced minutes.
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