San Antonio Spurs Blog – Page 78 – NBA Blog

Manu Ginobili regaining form

Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News reports:

Nearly 24 hours after the fact, the Spurs still were buzzing about the way Manu Ginobili turned Tuesday’s game against the Timberwolves into a personal time machine that transported him back to his days as one of the NBA’s most electrifying players.

Ginobili came to training camp after a summer of enforced inactivity designed to assure complete recovery from a stress fracture of the right ankle. He lately has been reintroducing bits and pieces of the unique game that made him one of the league’s best players.

Tuesday night’s near-triple double was the latest evidence he is getting closer to being the real Manu Ginobili.

Up next: The confidence that will allow him to attack the basket when he believes his legs have regained the explosiveness that once made him a human highlight reel.

Matt Bonner breaks hand

Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News reports:

At some point late in the first quarter of Saturday’s Spurs-Pacers game at the AT&T Center, Matt Bonner broke the fourth metacarpal — the bone in the meaty part of the hand that leads to the ring finger — on his right hand.

X-rays taken at the arena showed a partial fracture, and the initial diagnosis does not appear to indicate a need for surgery to repair the bone. Bonner will be re-examined on Monday before a final timetable for his return is announced, but he is certain to miss a significant number of games. He is optimistic his hiatus will last no more than a month.

“It’s not broken all the way through, so it should heal itself in about four weeks,” he said. “That’s about it.”

Spurs need to show improvement

With a 9-8 record, the San Antonio Spurs sit in the middle of the Western conference pack. If the regular season ended today, they’d qualify for the playoffs, but just barely — via a tie-breaker with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Will the Spurs soon raise the level of their game?

Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express News reports:

After back-to-back homecourt losses to the Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets, the Spurs head to the scene of one of their worst losses of the season with a sense their season has reached an early turning point.

The Jazz’s motivation is much simpler. They need a victory over any team to erase the embarrassment of Saturday night’s loss to Minnesota. The Timberwolves had won only two games before coming from 14 points down to beat a Jazz team that coach Jerry Sloan says didn’t defend in the second half.

The Spurs, 9-8 after back-to-back losses, approach tonight’s game with a fair amount of optimism. But they also understand that this revamped roster — one which many hoped would position them for a title run — needs to begin showing results, and soon.

“This stretch of games right here is really good for us,” Spurs captain and leading scorer Tim Duncan said. “We need to turn a corner and learn things about ourselves and become a better team.”

Right now, it’s hard to take the Spurs seriously as a championship contender. Perhaps that’ll change in the near future.

Spurs assign Malik Hairston to Austin Toros of D-League

The San Antonio Spurs announced today that they have assigned guard Malik Hairston to the Austin Toros, the NBA Development League team owned and operated by the Spurs.

Hairston has appeared in eight games with San Antonio this season where he averaged 0.8 points in 4.1 minutes.

Last season Hairston split the year between San Antonio and Austin. In 15 games with the Spurs he averaged 3.3 points and 1.9 rebounds. In Austin, he earned All-D-League Honorable Mention after averaging 22.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 30 games.

Hairston was selected by the Phoenix Suns with the 48th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft and was acquired by San Antonio in exchange for the draft rights to Goran Dragic. He spent the 2008 training camp with San Antonio where he averaged 5.3 points and 4.5 rebounds in six preseason games before being waived on 10/26.

Raja Bell out at least three months after wrist surgery

Golden State Warriors guard Raja Bell underwent successful surgery today to repair ligament damage in his left wrist, the team announced.

Following the surgery, which was performed by Dr. Paul Perlik at Presbyterian Orthopedic Hospital in Charlotte, NC, Bell will have his wrist immobilized for six (6) weeks, at which point he will begin rehabilitation.

He is expected to be sidelined a minimum of three (3) months.

Manu Ginobili out 7-10 days

Manu Ginobili underwent an MRI examination this afternoon in San Antonio. The exam confirmed that he has a mild left groin strain and showed that he has no structural damage in the area. Ginobili will begin his rehabilitation process tomorrow. He is expected to miss seven-to-ten days.

Ginobili suffered the injury in the first quarter of last night’s Spurs-Mavericks game.

This season in nine games the 6-6, 205-pound shooting guard is averaging 14.1 points and 4.2 assists in 23.4 minutes per game. He’s shooting just 37.8 percent from the field.

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Brent Barry joins NBA TV

NBA TV today announced the addition of two-time NBA Champion and 14-year veteran Brent Barry to its announcer roster for the 2009-10 season. Barry will work as a studio analyst for NBA GameTime, the network’s live studio show filled with highlights, analysis, commentary and live look-ins at games being played across the league. Barry will join on Monday nights, beginning Monday, Nov. 2, alongside host Andre Aldridge and analyst Eric Snow.

Barry is the newest studio analyst on the network’s impressive roster which includes Hall of Famer Kevin McHale, five-time NBA All-Star Chris Webber, 14-year veteran Steve Smith, Snow and Scott. Barry is best known for his three-point shooting in which he currently ranks 10th all-time in career three-point field goals made. Barry spent 14 years in the NBA with six teams including the L.A. Clippers, Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, Seattle SuperSonics, San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets.

NBA TV will take the court for its first week of Tuesday Fan Night with the Lakers @ Thunder match-up, as voted upon by fans on NBA.com. The game will air on Tues., Nov. 3 at 8 p.m. (ET) with host Ernie Johnson and analysts Chris Webber and Kevin McHale on-hand for studio coverage beginning at 7:30 p.m. (ET).

Spurs exercise George Hill option

The San Antonio Spurs announced today that they have picked up the option for the 2010-11 season for guard George Hill.

In his rookie season Hill appeared in 77 games, averaging 5.7 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 16.5 minutes. As a starter he averaged 9.7 points, 3.4 assists and 3.3 rebounds in 27.9 minutes in seven games while filling in for the injured Tony Parker. During that stretch Hill posted his four highest scoring games of the season: scored 20 points in 29:28 minutes on 11/19 vs. Denver, had a career-high 23 points in 22:37 minutes on 11/21 vs. Utah, tallied 20 points in 28:36 minutes on 11/24 at Memphis and had 19 points – along with a career-best 11 rebounds – in 32:40 minutes on 11/26 vs. Chicago.

An early entry candidate in the 2008 NBA Draft, Hill was selected by the Spurs in the first round with the 26th overall pick out of IUPUI. He is the first player school history to be selected in an NBA Draft and appear in an NBA game.

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Tim Duncan to wear knee brace all season

San Antonio Spurs forward/center Tim Duncan is getting older and taking care to ensure that his knees stay strong.

Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News reports:

The brace Tim Duncan has been wearing on his left knee throughout the preseason will remain for the entire season.

Duncan scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds in his first preseason action Friday.

“It feels pretty good,” he said. “I’ve gone through four or five braces this summer, trying to find the right one. That’s the one that feels good so far.”

Duncan will turn 35 years old on April 25, which according to the calendar in my head should be during the first round of the NBA playoffs.

Spurs defending without Bowen

The successful San Antonio Spurs have been strong defenders ever since the days of David Robinson playing alongside Tim Duncan, but for years the tradition also continued thanks to the efforts of Bruce Bowen.

Age caught up with the aggressive small forward last season and he quickly fell off the map, eventually being moved to another team, and recently announcing his retirement.

Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News reports:

The transition to a post-Bowen defense began last season, when the eight-time All-Defensive Team selection’s ability to lock down the league’s great scorers began to erode. Bowen slipped out of the starting lineup. His minutes dwindled to fewer than 19 per game, an all-time low for his eight seasons with the Spurs.

Now, Jefferson will be part of a gang approach to defending players such as Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Wade, who is likely to miss today’s game with a strained rib muscle. So will Manu Ginobili, George Hill, Roger Mason Jr. and Keith Bogans.

“Bruce was the best at making those kinds of guys uncomfortable, but those guys you have to guard as a team,” Ginobili said, “so we’re going to have to play better team defense than the last two years.

“We all have to step up defensively.”

The Spurs have a limited window to win another championship in the Duncan era, and they stocked up on weapons this summer and are going for broke this year. On paper, I consider them the second or third best team in the Western conference.