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If Tony is really out someone please, please tell me they called up Darius today and he's ready to play.
Hopefully Manu has an awesome game tommorow night after the night that he had the other night and with Tim and Tony possibly both out. I wonder if he's going to start then.Pro basketball: Duncan upgrades playing status
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b...n.e3f3581.html
Web Posted: 12/12/2007 11:25 PM CST
Mike Monroe
Express-News Staff Writer
LOS ANGELES — Tim Duncan, the Spurs' two-time MVP power forward, said he expected to play in both games of the team's road trip, which began with a thud at Golden State and continues tonight against the Los Angeles Lakers.
“That's why I got on the plane, honestly,” Duncan said.
Duncan was scratched after he struggled in Tuesday morning's shootaround, with coach Gregg Popovich declaring him doubtful for tonight's game as well, because of continuing problems with a sprained right ankle and bruised right knee.
Now All-Star point guard Tony Parker has been added to the “doubtful” list for tonight's game at the Staples Center.
A team spokesperson said Parker continues to have problem with a sprained right ankle, an injury he suffered in Minnesota on Nov. 30. Parker has made only 19 of 50 shots in the past three games, and Popovich may want to give him one or two games off to get the ankle back to full strength.
Duncan hinted he might pester Popovich to allow him to suit up against the Lakers tonight.
“I don't like the word ‘doubtful,'.” Duncan said. “I'd rather step it up to ‘questionable.' It goes ‘doubtful, questionable, probable' and then nothing, right? So I'll go with questionable.”
Duncan said he is fighting fatigue as much, or more so, than pain now.
“Fatigue is still a factor, not only wind-wise, but in my leg,” he said.
Ginobili human: Turns out Manu Ginobili is not a cyborg programmed to dominate games in Duncan's absence.
After scoring 37 points in each of the first two games Duncan missed with his injuries, Ginobili struggled mightily Tuesday night.
Though he scored 13 points, he needed 14 shots to get them. He also committed five second-period turnovers, contributing to the Spurs' collapse and their fourth loss of the season.
“Eighty-two games, and people are people,” Popovich said. “They're not machines. That's going to happen once in a while.”
Not surprisingly, Ginobili was not nearly as kind in self-assessment as Popovich was in speaking about his off night.
“I turned it over because I wasn't ready to play,” Ginobili said. “That is the way to understand it. My job is to bring solutions from the bench. (Tuesday), I brought problems.
“I didn't do my job. I contributed to my team playing bad. I turned the ball over five times in the first half, and that seems impossible against them. All I can say is I was not ready.”
If Tony is really out someone please, please tell me they called up Darius today and he's ready to play.
Duncan and Parker out? That's an early Christmas present for the Lakers.
Oh well. Get well soon.
P.S.
Might as well rest Manu while they're at it.
He's probably on a plane to Los Angeles as I type this.
Anybody remember that game on November 11th 2003? Tim and Tony were both injured and out. Manu led a bunch of scrubs composed of Shane Heal and Kevin Willis to double OT against the Lakers Fab Four? I cried when they lost.
i agree... might as well give all 3 of them a game or 2 to heal up those nagging injuries. i dont like the fact that manu is still having problems with that hand... pinch it in the bud before it becomes something we have to worry about later.
we have the luxury of being able to drop a couple of games in the sake of health and still have the best record in the west. especially after the way phx and dallas have been playing lately
there was alot of complaint from the lakers camp about the gift the spurs sent to golden state. i think pop just wants to even the score.
anyway, this is a season long move to get the warriors and lakers into the playoffs and send them against the mavs and the suns, respectively.
are you serious....why did duncan even come on this trip....ahhahaha
o well, dallas lost tonight
anyways....
We will get to see manu carry this team on his back once again...and if he in anyways does well and some how pulls off a win...then i demand he is on the allstar team this year.
hes avg. like 21 5 5 or something like that right now
The reason why the Spurs are so dominant is because there aren't really any teams that can stop Duncan, Parker, and Ginobli. Usually they can put the clamps on 1-2 of the 3, but one of them is gonna go off and score points on any given night.
The Lakers have never really had much of a problem with Duncan. Kwame does a decent job defending him and usually Duncan is a non-factor when compared with Manu and Parker.
The one Spurs player that has consistently killed the Lakers is Tony Parker. They have absolutely no answer for his penetration in the lane which lead to kickouts for wideopen 3's. You take Parker out of the game and the Lakers probably win.
Manu and Bonner will carry this team.
Yeah i was at that game and Manu was simply awesome that game even though he missed a shot at the buzzer that coulda won the game. I was pissed when we lost and damn i don't think i've ever hated at team more than the 03-04 Lakers!Anybody remember that game on November 11th 2003? Tim and Tony were both injured and out. Manu led a bunch of scrubs composed of Shane Heal and Kevin Willis to double OT against the Lakers Fab Four? I cried when they lost.
If Tony was just declared "doubtful" in the middle of a two-game road trip after having played the first, I doubt they'd fly in Darius from Austin (on a day's notice) to play one game. It would be cool, but I doubt it'll happen.
I think we'll see this game being played with either Barry or Vaughn starting at point (and the other sharing minutes) and have Darius join the squad when they return to San Antonio, should Tony miss another game or two.
The Spurs are pretty banged up right now, but are still 17-4. It seems like Pop is thinking he has a little "breathing room" right now and wouldn't mind using this portion of the season to let his guys get back into form.
Remember: they went the majority of last season at full or near-full strength before rounding into playoff form.
I'll take a losing streak (or whatever it may be) now if it means we can have a decently healthy rotation.
On the bright side, doesn't Finley usually play better when he gets more minutes? Seems like it might be time to predict a "break-out-of-that-funk game" or two for him.
There is no reason for the Spurs to risk injury to any of their star players this early in the season. The Spurs have a big enough cushion that they can afford to drop a few games right now to get everyone healthy again. Still, can't be too complacent because the WC is like the Wild West right now. Spots 3-8 are wide open for anyone to grab at this point.
As long as whoever is playing leaves it all on the floor I'll take whatever the outcome is.
Just bring the effort and energy and it will be okay.
If Pop thinks it's wiser to hold Duncan out another game (or more) that's okay with me.
And Parker has looked like he can use some down time to heal as well.
It is what it is.
This team will be fine.
Let's get it all out of the way in time for the RRT and SPAM.
If our three point shooting is on, we MIGHT have a chance without Tony and Tim.
We need Bruce to put the clamps on Kobe.
Bynum will eat us alive.
I guess it depends on whether the Spurs think they need to shut down Parker for anything more than one game. This Toros' schedule from Friday through the first week of the January will be provide very nice compe ion for Darius:
3 games vs. Colorado (Eddie Gill?)
3 games vs. Tulsa (Ramon Sessions)
2 games vs. RGV (Aaron Brooks and CJ Watson)
1 game vs. Idaho (Taurean Green and Randy Livingston)
1 game vs. Utah (Gabe Pruitt and Kevin Kruger)
If we are calling him up to play regular minutes in three or four games to rest Parker fully, great. But blowing a call-up just to see if he might replace Parker for one game doesn't sound like something the Spurs would want to do. I hate the call-up limits more than anyone, but that's how it is for now.
Duncan came on this trip because he is this team's captain.
He was possible to play in both of these games.
He was shooting on the floor for 35 minutes before shoot around at the Warriors, then Pop decided to sit him.
If he can fly without risk of swelling or furthur damage to his ankle he belongs with his team.
Even if he doesn't play.
Eh...Any combo of Oberto/Horry/Elson/Bonner can deal with that guy.
The Lakers are 8-2 when Bynum has 12+ points and 6-4 when he has less.
All those games where he had 12+ came against teams like the Suns, Bulls, Pacers, Bucks, etc. There was no defense involved.
If the Spurs can "contain" that crazy-ass animal they call Andruw Bynum, they might...just might have a shot at winning.
Don't matter.
Wait .. Parker's injured?
I thought I was called a dumb earlier today for saying he was injured
You were, but none of us believed it so it doesn't count!Wait .. Parker's injured?
I thought I was called a dumb earlier today for saying he was injured
They didn't mean really injured. They meant kinda fake injured. C'mon, get your act together, Kori.Wait .. Parker's injured?
I thought I was called a dumb earlier today for saying he was injured
Yeah, maybe Horry and Oberto can exploit his youth. We'll see. Hopefully it's a fun game to watch regardless. Maybe the Golden State Warrior loss was a blessing in disguise.Eh...Any combo of Oberto/Horry/Elson/Bonner can deal with that guy.
The Lakers are 8-2 when Bynum has 12+ points and 6-4 when he has less.
All those games where he had 12+ came against teams like the Suns, Bulls, Pacers, Bucks, etc. There was no defense involved.
If the Spurs can "contain" that crazy-ass animal they call Andruw Bynum, they might...just might have a shot at winning.
Pffft. Leave it to a reporter to believe a "news" story.Wait .. Parker's injured?
I thought I was called a dumb earlier today for saying he was injured
bynum is a stud. i have no doubt he'll eat up whatever we throw at him. i know for sure that his length has given duncan trouble in the past.... i see no reason why it would be different for our obert/elson combo.
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