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Spurs to honor Bob Bass Tuesday

The San Antonio Spurs celebration of their 35th Anniversary of the franchise continues Tuesday, February 19, with the third of four special tribute games.

The Spurs played their first ABA regular season game against the San Diego Conquistadors at the HemisFair Arena on October 10, 1973. San Antonio made the transition to the NBA during the 1976-77 season and have gone on to win four NBA Championships (1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007).

At halftime the Spurs will honor Bob Bass who played an integral part in the Spurs success in the franchise’s first 20 years of existence. Bass served the Spurs in a variety of capacities, including five seasons as head coach (1974-76, 1979-80, 1983-84 and 1991-92), where he compiled a 144-108 (.571) record and led the team to the playoffs four times. Bass made his mark during his 18 years in the Spurs’ front office, where he was responsible for the acquisition of Spurs legends Sean Elliott, Avery Johnson, John Lucas, Johnny Moore, Alvin Robertson and David Robinson. He was named NBA Executive of the Year for the 1989-90 season after the Spurs posted a 56-26 record.

Joining Bass for this special presentation will be former players that wore the Silver and Black during Bass’ time with the Spurs including: Gene Banks, Sean Elliott, Mike Gale, George “Iceman” Gervin, Paul Griffin, Mike Mitchell, Johnny Moore and James Silas.

There are a total of four Spurs “35th Anniversary” tribute games scheduled throughout the season. Back on November 11, the Spurs honored Red McCombs for his contributions he made to the Spurs during his ownership. On January 14, the Spurs celebrated Angelo Drossos’ ownership of the Spurs. The final tribute game will take place on March 26 vs. Los Angeles Clippers.

San Antonio wins Shooting Stars competition

Team San Antonio, with Tim Duncan, David Robinson and Becky Hammon, won the 2008 NBA All-Star Weekend Shooting Stars competition Saturday night. After the team got through the regular shots, Tim Duncan quickly hit the half-court shot.

The other team in the Shooting Stars second and final round was Team Chicago, with Chris Duhon, Candice Dupree and B.J. Armstrong. They did well with the regular shots and easily could have won, but took forever to hit the half-court shot, losing it for that reason.

Team Los Angeles wasn’t too hot. And Team Phoenix had potential, but Eddie Johnson struggled.

‘That’s What Manu Does’ – Gregg Popovich

The San Antonio Spurs were trailing the New York Knicks in the final seconds of regulation when Manu Ginobili began his pursuit of the basket. From a defensive point of view, the conventional thinking would be one of two things.

Foul him. Or, let him score. So long as the passing lane was contained, and any Spur beyond the three point line was covered.

Fred Jones and Zach Randolph converged, but were late in arriving. Tim Duncan screened Renaldo Balkman, who dropped off his man -Michael Finley, alone in the right corner- to defend Ginobili. Less than two seconds remained, and the guard was still in control of the ball.

As Ginobili’s momentum pushed him past the end line, he released a pass to Finley, who promptly sent the game into OT.

“It was designed for Manu to do what he did,” said Gregg Popovich, the Spurs coach, startled that someone would dare ask him about such a risky play, albeit one that the champs have executed to perfection in the past. “That’s what Manu does.”

The fact this was a set play -the Spurs call it ‘Hammer’- is believable. The fact that it still worked despite Isiah Thomas’ warning, following a timeout, is unbelievable.

Well, maybe not that unbelievable.

“Yes, we talked about that,” Thomas said, after the Knicks lost their eighth straight game. “It didn’t happen but that’s okay. We will learn [from this], and move on.”

All-Star weekend Shooting Stars participants announced

Team Detroit will defend its Haier Shooting Stars title against Team Chicago, Team Phoenix and Team San Antonio in this year’s competition, which will be held on NBA All-Star Saturday Night, Feb. 16, at New Orleans Arena.

The Detroit team, which captured the title last year in Las Vegas with a time of 50.5 seconds, consists of All-Star and 2004 Finals MVP Chauncey Billups, Shock forward and two-time WNBA All-Star Swin Cash, and Shock head coach and four-time NBA All-Star Bill Laimbeer. Cash and Laimbeer were key figures in the Shock capturing the 2003 and 2006 WNBA championships.

Team Chicago, last year’s runner-up, is comprised of Bulls guard and Slidell, La. native Chris Duhon, two-time WNBA All-Star and Sky forward Candice Dupree and three-time NBA champion B.J. Armstrong. Representing Phoenix, the 2005 winner, are All-Star Amaré Stoudemire, two-time WNBA All-Star and 2007 WNBA Finals MVP Cappie Pondexter and Suns great Eddie Johnson. Team San Antonio, which dominated the competition in the 2006 Shooting Stars challenge with a record-setting time of 25.1 seconds, consists of 10-time All-Star and three-time Finals MVP Tim Duncan, four-time WNBA All-Star and Silver Stars guard Becky Hammon and David Robinson, a two-time NBA champion and One of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. Team Los Angeles won the inaugural competition in 2004.
The Haier Shooting Stars contest features one current NBA player, one current WNBA player and one NBA legend on each team. There are six numbered shooting locations of increasing difficulty, with each team attempting to make all shots in numeric order in the fastest time. Each team will select a specific player rotation to follow throughout the competition. Each shot must be made before the next player begins shooting in succession. Teams have up to two minutes to complete the entire shooting course and the team that completes all six shots in the least amount of time is declared the winner. In the case of a tie, a shoot-off will be used to determine the winner.

Spurs re-assign Ian Mahinmi to D-League

The San Antonio Spurs announced today that they have re-assigned rookie Ian Mahinmi to the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League (D-League).

Mahinmi, a 6-11, 230-pound center was recalled by the Spurs on Jan. 28 but did not see any action in his most recent stint with the Silver and Black. For the season he has appeared in six games for the Spurs, averaging 3.5 points in 3.8 minutes per contest. Mahinmi finished with a season-high 12 points and two blocks in 12 minutes of action vs. Milwaukee on Nov. 11.

In 24 games with the Toros, Mahinmi is averaging 18.0 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.20 blocks in 30.4 minutes. He currently leads the D-League in field goal percentage, shooting .644 (154-239) from the field. He set career-highs with 32 points and 17 rebounds in a 90-79 win at Utah on Dec. 21. Mahinmi tied his points-high with 32 points at Tulsa on Jan. 27.

Mahinmi will be available tonight when the Toros take on the Utah Flash at 7 p.m. at the Austin Convention Center.

Tony Parker left ankle update

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that Tony Parker underwent an MRI on his left ankle on Wednesday in San Antonio. The results showed that Parker is suffering from chronic inflammation and confirmed there is no structural damage in his ankle.

Parker received anti-inflammatory shots today which are designed to decrease the swelling in his ankle joint.

No timeline has been set for his return. Parker will not travel with the Spurs on the team’s six-game Eastern road trip which starts on Tuesday in Indiana.

Damon Stoudamire to Spurs is extremely likely

A source tells InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner that it’s “extremely likely” Damon Stoudamire will sign with the San Antonio Spurs.

Several media outlets reported Tuesday and Wednesday that San Antonio was an increasingly probable destination for the point guard, who became a free agent after a buyout agreement led to the Memphis Grizzlies waiving him. A source confirmed that to InsideHoops.com, and said late Wednesday night that Stoudamire to the Spurs is expected to happen unless a sudden surprise offer comes Damon’s way.

Rumor: Spurs chasing Damon Stoudamire hard

The San Antonio Express-News (Mike Monroe) reports: It can’t happen until early Wednesday evening, when Damon Stoudamire clears waivers, but it now appears likely the Spurs will sign the 5-foot-10 point guard who on Monday finalized terms of a buyout of his contract with the Memphis Grizzlies. Stoudamire had expressed interest in signing with both the Spurs and the Boston Celtics, but seems to have settled on San Antonio as his destination of choice.

Spurs recall Ian Mahinmi from D-League

The San Antonio Spurs announced today that they have recalled Ian Mahinmi from the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League (D-League).

In 24 games with the Toros, Mahinmi averaged 18.0 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.20 blocks in 30.4 minutes. He is leading the D-League in field goal percentage, shooting .644 (154-239) from the field. He set career-highs with 32 points and 17 rebounds in a 90-79 win at Utah on 12/21. Mahinmi tied his points-high with 32 points at Tulsa on 1/27.

The 6-11, 230-pound Mahinmi appeared in six games for the Spurs this season, averaging 3.5 points in 3.8 minutes per contest. He finished with a season-high 12 points and two blocks in 12 minutes of action vs. Milwaukee on Nov. 11. He was assigned to Austin on 11/21.

Originally selected by the Spurs in the first round (28th overall selection) of the 2005 NBA Draft, Mahinmi signed with the Silver and Black on Aug. 23, 2007. He has spent the past four seasons playing in the French A League. Last season he played for Pau-Orthez, appearing in 33 French League games, averaging 4.3 points and 3.2 rebounds in 12.7 minutes per game. He also saw action in 18 EuroLeague games, averaging 3.7 points and 2.7 rebounds in 11.3 minutes per contest.

Mahinmi is the first player the Spurs have assigned to the Toros since Spurs Sports & Entertainment purchased the Austin franchise on June 28, 2007. The Spurs join the L.A. Lakers as the second NBA team to own a D-League team (the Lakers own the L.A. Defenders). Austin is led by first-year head coach Quin Snyder.

Brent Barry out 3-4 weeks

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that a MRI had revealed that Brent Barry suffered a grade II strain of the medial head of his gastrocnemius muscle in his left calf. The injury occurred during the third quarter of the Spurs-Miami Heat game on 1/24. He is expected to miss three-to-four weeks.

Barry had previously torn the plantaris muscle in his left calf on 12/26 against Chicago. He missed nine games due to the injury.