Gregg Popovich rested his top four scorers tonight against the Miami Heat (Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green), sending them home to San Antonio to prepare for the Spurs’ next game against the Western Conference leading Memphis Grizzlies. NBA Commissioner David Stern had this to say, “I apologize to all NBA fans. [...]
Here’s how it tends to work: The NBA jams as much basketball as it possibly can into our eyes and ears on Wednesday nights, putting two-thirds of the league or more to work and giving League Pass junkies a solid six to seven hours of roundball-related stimulation between tipoff on the East Coast and the final buzzer out west. Then, after we’ve recovered a bit, we’re served up a nice, easy-to-digest slate on Thursday nights featuring only two or three games, and headlined by the weekly TNT double-header that features a marquee matchup for prime-time Eastern audiences followed by an exciting Western Conference pairing designed to keep you awake, entranced and ready for the comedy stylings of the “Inside the NBA” crew’s postgame show.
It’s a good, manageable formula, provided the headline games are interesting, and with a clash of the titans between the defending NBA champion Miami Heat and Western Conference finalist San Antonio Spurs — two teams that have combined to win 23 games this season and lose just six — batting leadoff, this Thursday night’s slate sure seemed to fit the bill.
There’s just one problem: The reigning Coach of the Year doesn’t seem to care much about the formula. From Spurs beat man Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News :
It appears Gregg Popovich has done it again.
With the road miles piling up on his veteran team, the Spurs coach has dispatched four of his top five leading scorers home to San Antonio [...] Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green did not travel with the team after Wednesday night’s win in Orlando, instead heading back to South Texas this morning for an extra day of rest leading up to Saturday’s sure-to-be-rugged home game against Memphis.
The four were spotted on a Southwest flight making a pre-lunch escape from central Florida.
How much Nando De Colo, Patty Mills and James Anderson were you itching to see tonight? Did you answer, “Tons?” Well, then, lucky you!
SAN ANTONIO — The Spurs’ blistering showtime offense that was on display most of last season was back with Manu Ginobili leading the way as San Antonio beat the slumping Denver Nuggets 126-100 at the AT&T Center on Saturday night.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Gary Neal had 27 points, Manu Ginobili hit two big free throws in the final seconds and the San Antonio Spurs edged the Portland Trail Blazers 112-109 on Saturday night.
Spurs guard Manu Ginobili was again ruled out for Thursday night’s game against Oklahoma City because of a back problem. He could make his season debut this weekend.
Don’t be surprised if Manu Ginobili gets extended by the Spurs this season… Dwight Howard brushes off Shaq… Matt Barnes’ career comes full circle and more!
Every team has at least one scenario that it fears occurring would shatter its plans for the season.
The Minnesota Timberwolves saw theirs come true when Ricky Rubio suffered ligament tears last season, ending the team’s playoff hopes. The San Antonio Spurs headed into the 2011 playoffs weakened with Manu Ginobili injured.
Some teams’ plans can be disrupted by issues other than injuries. A team’s calculus for success can be broken by players’ shortcomings or issues that aren’t easily measured. Also, a team that is rebuilding can be thrown off if its season doesn’t go quite as planned.
Follow along to see what possible occurrences or situations could keep each team from reaching its goal for the season.
Here are 10 standouts of the group play:
Manu Ginobili, Argentina
Ginobili
Possibly the greatest competitor in international play in a generation, Ginobili is likely playing in his final Olympics.
