Spurs embrace down time to be up for stretch
Web Posted: 03/29/2005 12:00 AM CST
Johnny Ludden
San Antonio Express-News
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b...183b43966.html
After five months and 70 games, the Spurs know this much about their playoff future: If they can hold off Dallas and win the Southwest Division, they'll be assured of one of the Western Conference's top three seeds and a possible first-round meeting with Memphis.
Or Denver. Or Houston. Or Sacramento. Maybe even Minnesota.
"Wherever you end up that's where you end up," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "If we ended up first (in the West), that's great, but, probably, the chances are that's not going to happen.
"In this conference, there are so many good teams that worrying about seeding is an endeavor that's a real waste of time. If you're good enough to get out of this conference, it doesn't matter who you play. You'll have to play good teams anyway."
Popovich is more concerned about improving the Spurs' health than their position in the standings, which is why he welcomed Monday's chance to rest his weary.
The team has a two-day break before playing Seattle on Wednesday, then gets three days off at the end of the week after back-to-back games against Denver and the Los Angeles Lakers. Only once in the past month have the Spurs had consecutive days between games.
"We've been going pretty hard here for the past two weeks," Brent Barry said. "So it's great for the guys who are injured and sick to get a chance to get healthy.
"We need to take advantage of these days and get our legs back and refocus our energies."
Manu Ginobili should especially benefit from the break. Though his groin hasn't given him much trouble, he's still trying to work his way into shape. He played 37 minutes Sunday — his most since returning from a five-game absence — and said he felt fatigued near the end of the game.
With four sets of back-to-back games in April, including a six-games-in-eight-days stretch that starts next week, Popovich wants to get his All-Star guard as much rest as possible.
"Hopefully, his body can get whole again," Popovich said. "He's fighting through it right now. His calves and his legs were basically shot after (Friday's victory over Atlanta).
"The cup is definitely not filled. He's always running on a quarter tank, and he uses it up in a game."
Tim Duncan, meanwhile, has begun walking on a treadmill as his sprained right ankle continues to heal. Duncan probably will need at least another two weeks to recover, but officials were pleased with his progress the first seven days.
Devin Brown, who joined Duncan on the injured list last week, has received a steroid injection in an attempt to relieve some inflammation around the disk injury in his back. So far, his condition hasn't improved much.
With Duncan and Brown sidelined indefinitely, Popovich hopes to use the brief break to work in their replacements.
Nazr Mohammed, Linton Johnson III and Sean Marks — none of whom has played more than 11 games with the Spurs — are trying to get familiar with the system and their teammates. The team, for now, probably will leave open the roster spot vacated by Dion Glover while the coaches evaluate Johnson.
"It's actually been more of a familiarity thing as much as an execution exercise because we have to get players familiar with their new roles, basically," Popovich said. "We have to back off a little bit just to get knowledge across. Sometimes you don't get to get knowledge across and hone it at the same time."
Without Duncan around to command a double-team in the post, the Spurs are running more motion. The perimeter players have assumed much of the team's scoring load.
"We were entering the polishing stage," Popovich said. "Now we're back to just learning, more or less."
He could barely respond to Mic e Tafoya at the end of the game because he was breathing so heavily.and said he felt fatigued near the end of the game.
Also, did anyone notice that Manu was pissed going into the locker room at halftime? He got fouled a couple of times on that last attempt.
We didn't look that good in the polishing stage...we look better in the learning stage. We just whupped up on a team that beat us twice this season with a healthy Duncan...and we did it all in the 4th quarter, and that was the best defensive performance by any team against the Rockets this season, without Duncan, and our 4th quarter offense was unstoppable, without Duncan, against one of the best defensive teams in the NBA...Maybe we shouldn't "polish" the team this year. Maybe when Duncan comes back we should remain in the learning stage.
He said in the locker room that he was exhausted for the last five or six minutes of the game, that he wasn't expecting to play 37.He could barely respond to Mic e Tafoya at the end of the game because he was breathing so heavily.
LeBron played 53 minutes Mon night.
LeBron plays with les intensity (spelling?) and Manu plays much better D.
But the rockets had a hurt McGrady and NO Jowan Howard (this guy usually plays good against the Spurs).
Waive Duncan.
I agree stay in the learning stage. The spurs do best when they think on defense and just play on offense.
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