Ray Allen nails game-winning 3-pointer to push Heat past abbreviated version of Spurs (VIDEO) (Ball Don’t Lie)

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Nov 302012
 

A funny thing happened on the way to the inevitable whitewashing that we were sure would follow San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich’s decision to send four starters back to Texas early rather than face the Miami Heat at full strength on Thursday night. Instead of a stem-to-stern demolition born out of the talent imbalance between a Heat team with its three marquee names (LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh) ready to go and a Spurs side without its three signature stars (Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, plus rising young swingman Danny Green), the fans in the stands at the AmericanAirlines Arena and watching at home on TNT saw an exciting, competitive, nip-and-tuck contest that went down to the wire.
If San Antonio was punting on the nationally televised matchup — as many seem to think they were, including NBA Commissioner David Stern, who before the game called Popovich’s roster manipulation “unacceptable” and promised “substantial sanctions” for the Spurs — it seemed no one told the Spurs, who rode big nights from the likes of guard Gary Neal (20 points and seven assists, albeit on 7-for-20 shooting and with six turnovers, off the bench), center Tiago Splitter (18 points, nine rebounds, two assists) and rookie Nando De Colo (15 points, six rebounds, five assists and five turnovers in the most significant action of his young career) to a seven-point lead with five minutes remaining. Miami, however, clawed back late behind the rim-attacking of James and Wade, and with 40 seconds remaining, trailed by a lone point, 98-97.
Mr. Allen, please pick up the red courtesy phone:

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Realistic Trade Destinations for Every San Antonio Spurs Role Player

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Jun 192012
 

The Spurs 4-2 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder marked the end of their regular season, allowing them to move their focus to their next priority—the offseason.

With many players—DeJuan Blair, Gary Neal, Patty Mills and Boris Diaw—entering the free agent market, the Spurs will have to look to retain them while also making the necessary moves to ensure that their 2012-2013 playoff fate will have a different outcome than this year.

Trading their role players to surround Kawhi Leonard with youth for the future will be one of the Spurs’ top priorities during the offseason.

Here’s a look at possible trades involving these role players, and the destinations where they may end up.

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Why Tony Parker Isn’t Enough to Win San Antonio Spurs Another Title

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Jun 142012
 

Tony Parker is a stellar player. The San Antonio Spurs point guard is a strong scorer and a good distributor. His inside scoring ability remains high. However, despite all of his positive qualities, Parker isn’t the type of player who can carry a team on his back.

With Parker, there’s little room between fantastic games and bad games. He scored 20 or more points 26 times this season. He had 17 games in which he shot 55 percent or better from the field. Also, he had 12 double-doubles.

That he was able to put up so many nights of great production is wonderful.

However, his bad games were noticeable. Of the 15 games in which he shot worse than 40 percent from the field, Parker shot 30 percent or worse in eight of those games.

Sometimes, Parker’s high scoring games came with extra turnovers. In six of his 26 20-point games, Parker committed five or more turnovers.

Parker led the team in scoring with 18.3 points per game and was the only player to average over 30 minutes per game. He was one of only four Spurs to average double figures in scoring, although five more averaged at least nine points per game.

The playoffs showed an even greater imbalance, as he, Duncan and Manu Ginobili were the only ones to average double figures in scoring.

Parker has pushed an aging core with high energy and precise management. However, the last three games of the Western Conference Finals showed that he was slipping. He struggled to convert shots, hitting five of 15 in Game 4, five of 14 in Game 5 and 12 of 27 in Game 6.

The burden became too much for Parker, who took 32 percent of San Antonio’s shots in Game 6.

The Spurs will have to show in the offseason that they recognize that Parker can’t carry a team offensively. They have three key players entering free agency in Tim Duncan, Gary Neal and Danny Green.

The Spurs should see Duncan return for another year or two to finish his career, since Duncan told the San Antonio Express-News that he considers himself a “Spur for life.”

Neal and Green both averaged between nine and 10 points per game this season while shooting better than 40 percent from three-point range. Both will likely be cheap players to retain in the offseason.

The Spurs will have to rely more on free agency and building from within their roster than the draft this offseason, since their only draft pick is the next to last pick of the draft.

They have some players who could grow into scoring roles, such as Neal and Kawhi Leonard. The Spurs could see significant growth in Leonard if he receives more minutes. Leonard averaged 7.9 points per game in the regular season and 8.6 per game in the playoffs. He had four games with more than 15 points in the playoffs.

Hopefully, the Spurs will be able to develop scorers in the coming years. Duncan has shown in the last three years that he can’t carry a scoring load like he used to. Ginobili can’t get the job done as often as he once could, especially with his ailing body. Parker can’t be this strong for much more than a year or two.

The Spurs have remained a top-tier team in the Western Conference by plugging guys in. They’ll have to take someone—likely from their own roster—and plug him into a key scoring role to assist Parker.

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Who Is to Blame for San Antonio Spurs’ Collapse?

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Jun 052012
 

OKC is in control of this series, quite unexpectedly. While I hate to scapegoat anyone within a fantastic, over-performing organization like San Antonio, a disappointment has its attributions. 

First of all, Tony Parker has not played well since the series first shifted to Oklahoma City. For what it’s worth, nobody in history has fluctuated so often between “MVP candidate?” and “Is he the third-best player on his team?” Parker is a fine player, but not quite the transcendent star who can overcome a decent wing defender. The occasional wing treatment has either worn on TP, or he’s just been off. 

The backup guards haven’t been much help, either. In these past three losses, Gary Neal and Danny Green have gone for a combined 10-of-36. 

Of course, the main culprits are external factors like “Father Time” and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Kevin Durant has been magnificent, most notably at the end of Game 4. James Harden also deserves credit for pulling spectacular shots out of the dark recesses of his beard. 

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Thunder vs. Spurs Game 2: Live Coverage and Analysis

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May 292012
 

Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals came to a disappointing end for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Despite entering the fourth quarter with a 71-62 lead against San Antonio, the Thunder eventually fell 101-98 due to a monster 39-point fourth quarter by the Spurs.

The Spurs bench nearly outscored the Oklahoma City Thunder’s starting lineup, putting up 52 points. That included 26 from Manu Ginobili and 12 from Gary Neal.

Will OKC be able to slow down Ginobili and the reserves? Will Tony Parker and Tim Duncan find their groove? Most importantly, who will emerge victorious and control the momentum of the series as we shift to Oklahoma City?

All of those questions and more will be answered tonight at 9 p.m. EDT, as the Thunder look to end the Spurs’ nine-game postseason winning streak. Tune in for Bleacher Report’s live coverage and analysis of this momentum-shifting game!

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NBA Playoffs 2012: What San Antonio Spurs Must Do to Send Message in Game 2

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May 292012
 

The Western Conference Finals features a matchup of the old veterans against the young up-and-comers, and in Game 1, the San Antonio Spurs showed their young counterpart, the Oklahoma City Thunder, why they’ve been so successful over the past several seasons.

The Thunder simply could not match the composure of the Spurs, as late offensive fouls by James Harden, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook cost the team some key possessions.

When all was said and done, not even Durant’s 27 points could hold off the surging Spurs in the fourth quarter.

With the Thunder leading 73-64 early on in the fourth quarter, the Spurs made their move.

Reserve Tiago Splitter was a huge part of the team’s rally to erase the nine-point deficit, scoring five points during the surge and taking a charge against Harden.

Gary Neal and Tony Parker then hit back-to-back jumpers, tying the score at 73. Parker would then put his team ahead with his signature one-handed floater.

Needless to say, the Spurs ended up winning the contest by a score of 101-98—a good victory for the team, but not nearly how coach Gregg Popovich was looking to get it done.

In reality, the Spurs were pretty lucky to have won the game.

Westbrook and Harden combined to go 14-for-38 from the floor with just 36 points, which is not the production that Thunder coach Scott Brooks was expecting from two members of his “big three.”

The Spurs already have a 1-0 lead in the series, but there’s still much they can do to send a message in Game 2.

First off, they must show the Thunder how a championship-caliber team adjusts from game-to-game.

The Spurs lulled through the first three quarters of Game 1, scoring just 62 points and trailing by nine. It took a little encouragement from Popovich to get the team going, and his incredible coaching proved to be the difference in the game (via ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz):

“Are we having fun yet? I need a little bit more dose of nasty. I’m seeing a little bit of unconfident, a little hesitation. It’s not supposed to be easy. Every round gets tougher…Penetrate hard, good passes, shoot with confidence. I want some nasty.”

That must have gotten the fire going, as the Spurs went on to shoot a ridiculous 75 percent from the floor in the fourth quarter, scoring 39 points—that’s more than they scored in the second and third quarters combined (38).

The Spurs will have to play a more consistent game in Game 2, playing solid offensively in each quarter. A constant offensive attack will really deflate the young Thunder, who will always be looking to play catch-up.

Secondly, the Spurs big three—Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili—will have to outperform the Thunder’s big three.

In Game 1, Duncan, Parker and Ginobili combined to score 60, grab 24 rebounds and dish out 11 assists. They shot 48 percent from the field.

Durant, Westbrook and Harden, despite a lower shooting percentage of 39, managed to score 63 points, grab 21 rebounds and dish out 10 assists.

Aside from shooting percentage, the numbers are very similar.

Ginobili was great in Game 1, scoring 26 points to lead the Spurs. Duncan and Parker will need to step their games up to send a message to Oklahoma City that the aging veterans are still title contenders.

I believe that if the Spurs’ big three outscores the Thunder’s in Game 2, the Spurs will take a 2-0 series lead.

Finally, the Spurs need to continue showing the NBA world how a championship-caliber team plays.

Their combination of clutch offense and clutch defense in the fourth quarter of Game 1 shows just how ready this team is to compete in the NBA Finals.

Although Ginobili led the team in scoring, it can be argued that Parker was the offensive star of the game, scoring 18 points to go along with eight rebounds and six assists.

His defense was just as important though, as his aggressive play on Westbrook forced the Thunder point guard to take many contested shots. That led to him scoring just 17 points on 7-of-21 shooting.

It’s hard to argue with a victory, but the Spurs need to send a message to the Thunder in Game 2.

The Thunder are playing with a lot of heart right now but, in the end, it’s the experience of the Spurs that will lead them to the Finals.

In order to get there though, the Spurs will have to count on their big three and some clutch performances from their stars as well as role players. 

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2012 NBA Playoffs: Spurs Need Manu Ginobili to Bring Consistent Magic

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May 292012
 

The San Antonio Spurs are a very deep team, and if a player does struggle for whatever reason on any given night (it was Danny Green on Sunday night), another player or players (Manu Ginobili and Gary Neal) are ready to pick up the slack, thus making the Spurs a very tough team to defeat.

The San Antonio Spurs got a big contribution from veteran sixth man Ginobili Sunday evening in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals versus the Oklahoma City Thunder.

It was almost time for Ginobili to show signs of his old self after having a relatively quiet series against the Utah Jazz and the Los Angeles Clippers.

During the series against the Clippers, Ginobili was more of a standstill shooter and a passer, while so far in Game 1 against the Thunder he has been driving to the rim and looking for his own shot, making the Spurs an even more lethal team.

Ginobili finished the night with 26 points in the 101-98 San Antonio victory, although it is his ability to make the right decision (score or pass) in the clutch that makes him an even more special player since his debut in the NBA.

Injuries have hampered Ginobili lately as the 34-year-old Argentine played in just 34 games this season due to a broken finger and a strained oblique during this shortened season. However, it is his unique play that makes the Spurs an even tougher team to defeat.

Whether it is due to Ginobili’s ability to constantly get into the painted area, hit the wildest-looking shots, or driving Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich crazy, Ginobili adds another dimension to a team playing its best basketball at this time.

It will be interesting to see if Ginobili continues to look for his shot and stay aggressive, as doing so will put a lot more pressure on the Thunder’s frontcourt players on top of both Tony Parker and Tim Duncan’s level of play already.

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NBA Playoffs 2012: Spurs’ Game 1 Victory a Sign of Things to Come

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May 282012
 

The San Antonio Spurs looked all but defeated until the final quarter of their first game against the Oklahoma City Thunder in these Western Conference Finals.

Despite the occasional signs of life from San Antonio, Scott Brooks’ young contender were poised to pull away from their veteran opposition for the better part of that third frame—a period in which the Spurs mustered just 16 points.

Gregg Popovich‘s well-oiled machine more than doubled that output in the fourth with a 39-point explosion that was too much for even the high-octane Thunder.

The Thunder may be telling themselves that such a reversal of fortunes can’t happen every night, and they’re almost certainly correct about that—but nor will the Spurs continue to struggle like they did throughout the first 75 percent of this game.

San Antonio gave the ball away 14 times in the first half, and All-Star point guard Tony Parker looked helpless in the face of OKC’s length and quickness.

Meanwhile, the club’s sharpshooting role players were cold as ice from behind the arc. Danny Green and Matt Bonner finished the game a combined 0-7 from deep, a trend which this usually accurate supporting cast isn’t especially accustomed to.

It should go without saying that the Spurs wouldn’t have found themselves in such a late hole were it not for the ragged start.

The unfailingly focused squad looked to be rattled by pressure for the first time in a while.

With a compelling victory under their belts, though, those nerves shouldn’t last long. After all, this team’s leadership has been here before. It may be a new experience for Green, Kawhi Leonard or Tiago Splitter, but it’s just another march to the NBA Finals for the still-potent trio that carries this team on its shoulders.

Manu Ginobili proved as much with one of his most classic postseason performances.

After a fade-away, buzzer-beating three to end the first quarter, Manu appeared to be locked in for a solid night. He went on to take over the game in key stretches of the fourth quarter, ultimately tallying 26 points on 9-14 shooting.

While the Spurs can count on an improved effort going forward, the Thunder may not be able to do the same.

Derek Fisher made his first six shots, and Oklahoma City’s role players were overachieving by almost any measure. That’s unlikely to continue over the course of what could be a drawn-out series.

And, even if it does, the Silver and Black have a few role-players of their own still waiting to show what they can do on the big stage. It may have been Tiago Splitter and Gary Neal making the difference tonight, but the way this team plays, there’s no telling who it will be next time.

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2012 NBA Playoffs TV Schedule for Monday, May 28 (Yahoo! Contributor Network)

 Miami  No Responses »
May 282012
 

The 2012 NBA Playoffs schedule for Monday, May 28 will feature Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. On May 27, the San Antonio Spurs matched the fourth-longest streak in NBA history and have not lost a game since April 11 with a win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Thanks to solid efforts by starters Tony Parker and Tim Duncan as well as big minutes by the three primary bench contributors (Manu Ginobili, Gary Neal, and Stephen Jackson), the Spurs played good defense and scored 39 points in the fourth quarter for the win. …

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