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Gregg Popovich will be head coach of NBA 2011 West All-Star team

Gregg Popovich will be head coach of NBA 2011 West All-Star team

San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich will coach the Western Conference All-Stars for the 2011 NBA All-Star Game, to be played on Sunday, Feb. 20, at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles.

With San Antonio’s 113-102 win over the Golden State Warriors Monday, the Spurs (38-7, .844) have clinched the best record in the conference through games played Feb. 6.

This season, Popovich has guided the Spurs to the league’s best record, earning consecutive Western Conference Coach of the Month honors for games played in October/November and December. The Spurs have enjoyed double-digit winning streaks of 12 and 10 games this season.

In his 15th season as head coach, Popovich has led the Spurs to four NBA titles (1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007) and is one of only five coaches in NBA history to have guided his teams to at least four championships. Popovich entered the season with a career mark of 736-362 and a winning percentage of .670, which ranked fourth in NBA history. His playoff career winning percentage of .618 (102-63) is the eighth best in NBA annals, while his 106 playoff wins are the third most in league history.

Popovich coached the West team during the 2005 All-Star Game in Denver, which the East won 125-115.

The coach of the East All-Stars will be determined by the team with the best record in the conference through games played Feb. 6. The Orlando Magic’s Stan Van Gundy, who coached last year’s East squad, is not eligible to coach this year’s All-Star Game.

The 2011 NBA All-Star Game will air live on TNT and ESPN Radio in the U.S., and reach fans in more than 200 countries and territories in more than 40 languages.

Spurs sign Larry Owens to 10-day contract

The San Antonio Spurs today announced they have signed forward Larry Owens from the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League to a 10-day contract. Owens is the second call-up of the 2010-11 D-League season.

Owens, a 6-7 forward, has spent the past two seasons with the 66ers. This year he has started in all 23 games for Tulsa, averaging 12.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 31.1 minutes while shooting .462 (108-234) from the field, .373 (25-67) from three-point range and .743 (52-70) from the foul line. He’s scored in double figure 18 times, including a season-high vs. Iowa on Nov. 26. Owens recorded a double-double in the season opener with 16 points and a season-high 13 rebounds at Bakersfield on Nov. 19.

Last season Owens started all 50 games for the 66ers, averaging 15.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.50 steals in 36.3 minutes. He shot .489 (299-611) from the field, .380 (52-137) from beyond the arc and .772 (139-180) from the charity stripe. In the D-League playoffs he averaged 18.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists in eight games while leading the 66ers to the D-League Finals. Prior to joining the 66ers Owens was in training camp with the New Orleans Hornets.

Owens played two seasons at Oral Roberts University posting career averages of 10.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.62 assists. In his second season with the Golden Eagles he was named to the All-MCC First Team and was the All-MCC Defensive Player of the Year.

Owens has also played overseas in France and Belgium.

Owens will wear. No. 33 for the Silver and Black and will be available for tonight’s game vs. Denver.

T-Wolves get 5 Ts in 10 seconds in loss to Spurs

The AP reports:

Referee Ken Mauer certainly won’t be accused of being biased toward his hometown Minnesota Timberwolves anytime soon.

Mauer, a cousin of Twins superstar Joe Mauer and a St. Paul native, whistled the Wolves for five technical fouls in a dizzying 10 seconds of the third quarter, allowing the calm and collected San Antonio Spurs to take control of another head-scratchingly tight game between the best team in the NBA and one of the worst.

Manu Ginobili had 19 points, making all five of those technical free throws, and the Spurs beat the Timberwolves 107-96 on Tuesday night.

“I’ve never seen that before,” said Wolves forward Kevin Love, who picked up the final technical of the spree. “Five in a row, that had to be a first. That was crazy.”

Richard Jefferson scored 17 and Tony Parker had 12 points and 13 assists for the Spurs, who beat the Timberwolves for the 16th straight time. Ginobili also had nine rebounds and six assists.

Love had 20 points and 20 rebounds for the Timberwolves, his sixth 20-20 game of the season. Orlando’s Dwight Howard led the league with three 20-20 games all of last season.

Spurs nailing threes at amazing rate

Apr. 23, 2010 - San Antonio, TEXAS, UNITED STATES - epa02129840 San Antonio Spurs players Manu Ginobili (L) from Argentina celebrates with teammates George Hill (R) and Tony Parker from France (C) and Tim Duncan back in the second half of their Western Conference first round playoff game against the Dallas Mavericks at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas USA, 23 April 2010. The San Antonio Spurs won 94-90 to take a 2-1 game lead in the series.

The San Antonio Express-News blog reports:

San Antonio’s blistering start from behind the 3-point arc could have the Spurs challenging the league record if they can maintain their current shooting pace.

The Spurs are hitting 41.4 percent of their 3-point shots. That percentage has been eclipsed by only one team in NBA history — the 1996-97 Charlotte Hornets who shot 42.8 percent.

That shooting prowess was on display Sunday afternoon against Portland, when the Spurs hit 9-for-17 from behind the arc for 52.7 percent. It marked the fifth time this season that the Spurs have hit 50 percent or better in a game behind the arc.

San Antonio started the game 7-for-10 from behind the arc, showcasing the depth in their shooting.  They rank second in the league with 206 3-pointers, trailing only New York’s 227.

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Spurs sign Ime Udoka

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The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have signed guard/forward Ime Udoka.  Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Udoka (#5, 6’5”, 220, 8/9/77) returns to San Antonio after spending the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons with the Silver and Black. In his two seasons with the Spurs, he appeared in 140 games, averaging 5.1 points and 3.0 rebounds per game in 16.8 minutes. In 21 career playoff games, all with the Spurs, Udoka averaged 5.0 points and 3.3 rebounds.

In his six-year NBA career, Udoka has averaged 5.5 points and 3.1 rebounds in 296 games. He spent last season with the Sacramento Kings, where he played in 69 games and averaged 3.6 points and 2.8 rebounds in 15.4 minutes per game.

He enjoyed his best campaign during the 2006-07 season when he started 75 games for Portland, averaging 8.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 28.6 minutes per game. He shot a career-best .461 (237-for-514) from the field and .406 (89-for-219) from three-point territory. Udoka has also played for the L.A. Lakers, in 2003-04, and the New York Knicks in 2005-06.

Undrafted out of college, Udoka has spent time in NBA Development League, USBL, IBA and internationally in Spain and France.  In 2005-06 he was named to the All-NBA D-League First Team and was also the recipient of Jason Collier Sportsmanship Award after averaging 17.1 points and 6.2 rebounds in 45 games for the Fort Worth Flyers.  Udoka began his D-League career in 2002-03 with the Charleston Lowgators. He also represented Nigeria at the 2006 FIBA World Championships, where he averaged 14.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists.

Udoka closed out his college career at Portland State where he led the Vikings in scoring, rebounding, steals and blocked shots during the 1999-2000 season.  He was also named First Team All-Big Sky Conference and selected as the league’s Newcomer of the Year.  Udoka began his college career at Eastern Utah and spent a year at University of San Francisco before arriving at Portland State.


FOR SPORTS - Spurs' Ime Udoka shoots against the Rockets during second half action Sunday March 22, 2009 at the AT&T Center. The Rockets won 87-85 Photo via Newscom

Malik Rose joins Spurs broadcast team

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that former Spur Malik Rose will serve as a fill-in color commentator for Sean Elliott on Spurs broadcasts this season.

Rose will join play-by-play announcer Bill Land for his first road broadcast tomorrow night when the Spurs take on the Minnesota Timberwolves at 7:00 p.m. on Fox Sports Southwest.  He will join Land for various games throughout the season, including the Nov. 28 game at New Orleans Hornets at 2 p.m. on FSSW.

“I have always thought Malik would make a great basketball analyst,” said Mike Kickirillo, Spurs director of broadcasting. “He always provided terrific insight in interviews and his reception with Spurs fans has been off the charts since he stepped into town. He will fit in well with Bill and do a great job stepping in for Sean.”

Rose played for the Spurs from 1997 to 2005, including two Championship seasons (1999, 2003).  During his eight-year career with San Antonio, he averaged 7.5 points and 4.8 rebounds in 509 games played. The 13-year veteran forward also played with the Hornets, Knicks and Thunder before retiring in 2009.

After retiring, Rose stepped into the broadcast world, currently serving as an in-studio analyst for the Oklahoma City Thunder and the New York Knicks. He will continue to serve in those roles in addition to his new duties as color analyst for San Antonio. 

 

Wizards sign Alonzo Gee, waive Lester Hudson

Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has signed guard/forward Alonzo Gee.  Per team policy, terms of the deal were not announced.

Gee (6-6, 220 lbs.), who appeared in five games this season for the San Antonio Spurs, returns to Washington following an 11-game stint with the Wizards last season.  Gee averaged 7.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 16.5 minutes during those 11 games, including a career-high 19-point effort at Charlotte on March 26.

Gee was initially signed to a ten-day contract by the Wizards last season on March 7 and was inked to a second ten-day contract on March 18 before signing with San Antonio for the remainder of the season.  Gee was waived by the Spurs on November 16.

Hudson appeared in six games for Washington this season, totaling two points, six assists and one rebound in 26 minutes of play.  Hudson was initially signed on September 24.

Red-hot Spurs are 11-1

Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News reports (via blog):

The Spurs enter tonight’s game against Orlando riding a 10-game winning streak, having not lost since Oct. 30 against New Orleans — a team that by night’s end Sunday had matched them at 11-1.

It is the Spurs’ longest winning streak since taking 11 straight from Feb. 11-March 6, 2008, so long ago that only four members of this year’s team were around to experience it.

The comparison from early last season is like night to day. At this time a year ago, the Spurs were 6-6 and had required a two-game winning streak just to get to .500.

At the time, the Spurs were integrating seven new roster pieces, notably Richard Jefferson and Antonio McDyess. They also had a few proven holdovers, such as Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, physically unable to pick up the slack while everyone else got on the same page.

In retrospect, it was a perfect storm for a disappointing start.

“It is time-consuming, and lot of patience is involved,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich reflected. “It’s a lot of concentration on the part of the players to try and pick things up quickly. It’s a communication-teaching situation that doesn’t happen right off the bat.”

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