McDonald: Spurs Won't Take It Easy

[duncan228]

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b...N.1e8158c.html

Pro basketball: Spurs won't take it easy

Jeff McDonald
Express-News Staff Writer

The Chicago Bulls enter tonight's game at the AT&T Center with a 9-16 record and without a head coach.

The way the Spurs see it, that's plenty of reason to worry.

Personnel-wise, this season's Chicago team is almost identical to last season's team that finished 49-33 and made the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

But the Bulls have struggled to find any sort of consistency this season, a turn of events that led to coach Scott Skiles' dismissal Monday.

Assistant coach Pete Myers is expected to lead the Bulls against the Spurs.

"They're trying to find a way to get things going, and you really have to be aware of a team like that," Spurs forward Bruce Bowen said. "At any given moment, they might go on a 10-game winning streak. You don't want it to start with you."

Silver lining: Because of a seemingly contagious strain of sprained joints, the Spurs have not been able to play a complete game with all of their "Big Three" — Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili — this month.

That's been a boon to a handful of Spurs reserves, who saw their minutes increase as a result.

"They hate it and they love it," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "They hate having guys hurt, because everybody wants the best chance to win, but they love getting minutes."

Matt Bonner drew three starts when Duncan went down with a sprained ankle. Jacque Vaughn filled in ably for four games in place of a similarly hobbled Parker.

Most recently, reserve Ime Udoka saw his workload swell when Ginobili went out with a sprained index finger Saturday. Udoka responded with 17 points and nine rebounds, both career highs.

With Ginobili ruled out of tonight's game, Udoka should again see an advanced role off the bench.

Dominant Duncan: Duncan has played his best basketball of the season since returning from the injured list.

He had eight points and five rebounds in 20 minutes in his Dec. 11 return against Denver. In the three games since, Duncan is averaging 28.7 points and 16.3 rebounds.

Twice over that span, Duncan had produced at least 34 points and grabbed at least 17 rebounds in a game.

[Dex]

With Ginobili ruled out of tonight's game, Udoka should again see an advanced role off the bench.

This is what I'm most interested to see tonight.

Well, that and a Spurs win.

[Dex]

Twice over that span, Duncan had produced at least 34 points and grabbed at least 17 rebounds in a game.

Make that a little harder to understand, Jeff.

[Budkin]

I hope we win by 30.

[urunobili]

vBookie on Nocioni's points plz!!!

[SenorSpur]

Usually you can expect a team that has just made a coaching change to play "out of their minds". The Bulls should be a scary team to face.

[BeerIsGood!]

The Bucks were a worse team in a similar coaching scenario last season and whipped the Spurs asses. They better take this team seriously, especially without Manu.