Spurs' Udoka, Vaughn earn minutes, praise
Jeff McDonald
By his own admission, Ime Udoka's second season with the Spurs hasn't quite gone as planned.
After earning a spot in coach Gregg Popovich's rotation toward the end of last season, and getting steady minutes during last year's playoff run, Udoka expected to be playing more than he has this season. Lost in a crowded wing situation, Udoka has appeared in just 46 games this season, and until recently, had been playing only in mop-up duty.
“I've been a little inconsistent,” Udoka said. “It's something I'm working on every day, so I can continue to contribute. All it takes is one game with Pop, and you'll be back in the mix.”
Udoka can only hope his most recent outing was that game. In 26 minutes of the Spurs' 100-78 blowout of Washington on Friday, Udoka scored 13 points, making 5 of 9 field goals and 3 of 5 from 3-point range.
It was Udoka's longest stint since Nov. 21 against Utah, which — perhaps not coincidentally — marked the last time he had cracked double digits in the scoring column.
After the game, Popovich praised the Boy Scout-like readiness of Udoka and Jacque Vaughn, a frequent denizen of the inactive list who had appeared in only 21 games before Friday.
“You'll find them in the gym before practice, after practice, just being really professional and earning their pay,” Popovich said. “Not sulking or anything like that because they don't have the minutes they want. It's a real joy to be around people like that.”
On the wall: Newly acquired forward Drew Gooden already has his photo hanging on the wall in the hallway that leads to the Spurs' locker room, but he isn't wearing silver and black.
Gooden is depicted in the background in two shots from the 2007 NBA Finals, in which the Spurs swept his Cleveland Cavaliers 4-0.
“I heard there were a couple of them on that wall,” said Gooden, who spent parts of four seasons with the Cavs from 2004-08. “There's one where there were some balls laid up on me, from Tony (Parker) to Fabricio (Oberto), to me getting my shot blocked. I said, ‘Man, my picture is already up.'”
Gooden's memories of that Finals series are bittersweet.
“I just remember finally making it to the pinnacle of basketball, the NBA Finals, and having the opportunity to play in the Finals,” he said. “And even though we got swept, I left everything out on that court all those four games. I left it out there.”
Crash course: Gooden stayed late after Saturday's practice to walk through the Spurs' offensive sets under the direction of assistant coach Mike Budenholzer. Rookies George Hill and Malik Hairston hung around to lend a hand, with a pair of Spurs staffers filling out the fivesome.
Popovich has said he plans to give Gooden time to adapt to his new team's system before putting him out on the floor.
“We've got a lot of stuff and run a lot of different things, so it's going to take a lot of time for him to kind of catch up,” forward Tim Duncan said. “We'll put in a smaller package for him, some basic stuff, just so he knows what's going on.”
Staff writer Mike Monroe contributed to this report.
Udoka only has good games when we play ty teams or are up by a significant lead. I would have liked to have seen him contribute in a meaningful manner this year when we were playing much better teams than the Wizards. But I have not seen that from him all year. He will be gone this summer.
“I heard there were a couple of them on that wall,” said Gooden, who spent parts of four seasons with the Cavs from 2004-08. “There's one where there were some balls laid up on me, from Tony (Parker) to Fabricio (Oberto), to me getting my shot blocked. I said, ‘Man, my picture is already up.'”
My guess Pop and his wry sense of humor at work.. got to make sure Gooden feels welcome.LOL
Awesome. That's just like Pop.
By the looks of things Udoka still has potential to contribute.... in a blowout win.
But seriously, he probably deserves more court time than what he's getting at the moment.
Spurs' Udoka, Vaughn Earn Minutes, Praise
We are ed
pops is just being a motivator and letting udoka and vaughn knowthat he appreciates their readyness.
If Ime could play like that consistently and relieve Fin of some of his minutes I'd be happy, but he's been consistently less than expected this season.
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