Saturday, April 3rd, 2010...6:18 am
San Antonio Spurs 112, Orlando Magic 100
AT&T CENTER-In more ways than one, the San Antonio Spurs were able to turn back the clock in order to turn back the Orlando Magic.
For one magical evening in the AT&T Center it was almost 2005 again. A loud, boisterous crowd provided the playoff atmosphere and the Spurs eldest trio of Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan and Antonio McDyess delivered performances straight out of the 2005 NBA Finals video vault.
The hair might be a little thinner, but Manu Ginobili’s game remains as sharp as it ever was. The wild forays to the rim, weaving in and out of defenders grasp, the trademark “el contusion” style that earned 17 free throw attempts and the dagger step back 3-pointers for 43 points, six rebounds and five assists. It was vintage Manu Ginobili.
“I think people tend to forget how good he really is,” Spurs center Antonio McDyess said. “It seems like he has gotten his stride back and is playing like the way he used to.”
Overshadowed but not to be unappreciated, McDyess was able to put in the solid near double-double the Spurs expected when they acquired the former Detroit Piston.
When Tim Duncan was with his third foul in the first quarter (head coach Gregg Popovich didn’t stick around too much longer in the half, being ejected in the second quarter) McDyess was called on to check Dwight Howard (10 points on 4-of-7 shooting) while contributing 10 points and seven rebounds.
“(McDyess) is a great post defender, he loves that situation, getting physical,” Duncan said. “I know I hated playing against him when he was in Detroit, he does a great job.”
And while Manu Ginobili was absolutely the story of the night once again, perhaps the most encouraging sign for the Spurs moving forward was the play of power forward Tim Duncan.
The Orlando Magic scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter, cutting the Spurs lead to two. Needing a basket in the worst way, the Spurs went to Duncan twice on the left block and again on a pick and roll with Manu Ginobili to give the Spurs some breathing room.
After sitting out most of the first half, Duncan finished with 23 points and eight rebounds in only 24 minutes. But more importantly, each of Duncan’s moves were with purpose and authority and he once again looked like the best big man in basketball.
“We went to him out of the timeout,” Spurs assistant coach Mike Budenholzer said. “If it worked, we were going to keep going to him. He was strong and aggressive in the post, so we kept going to it.”
What has worked the most for the Spurs as of late is handing the ball to Manu Ginobili and, as Budenholzer put it, getting out of the way. The free agent to be responded with his fourth game of 30 or more points, drawing M-V-P chants from the home crowd.
Asked if the evening reminded him of his best seasons, Ginobili agreed his play is starting to measure up.
“Well, 2008 was my best year statistically and the 2005 playoffs had good results, but I’m playing pretty well,” Ginobili said. “It’s hard to compare seasons, but I’m happy to see what I’m doing.”
34 Comments
April 3rd, 2010 at 6:46 am
Now that the Spurs are settling into a good rotation and beating top teams, how do think the Spurs will re-introduce Tony into the line-up?
I propose Tony to come off the bench, with Spurs holding on the current starting 5. It will ensure RJ stays with Ginobili to start the game and Tony can be the focal person of the offense when he gets in the game (halfway through the 1st Q). Hill is also an updrade on defense to start the game for the Spurs.
Do you think Tony will handle this move? will he mirror Manu and take one for the team?
April 3rd, 2010 at 7:25 am
[...] Jesse Blanchard of 48 Minutes of Hell has that story here. [...]
April 3rd, 2010 at 7:30 am
I agree, our offense would be much better if tony came off the bench for us.
April 3rd, 2010 at 7:31 am
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April 3rd, 2010 at 7:40 am
I’m sure Tony will be willing to come off the bench, for the first round of the playoffs. If we make it to the second round, I imagine he’d want to be back in the starting lineup then.
April 3rd, 2010 at 7:57 am
I think you actually start Tony Parker in place of George Hill and keep the rest of the starting lineup the same. To start the game you run the offense through Ginobili no different than the Spurs are doing now. Then you bring in Hill for Manu early in the first, and put the ball in Parkers hands.
At the end of the first/start of the second, Manu comes in for Tony with the rest of the second unit, solving our bench problem once again. In the 4th Quarter? Manu, Manu, Manu.
Some people act like there is this big struggle for touches between Parker and Ginobili, but Parker has always been great about letting Ginobili run things when he’s going and picking his spots in transition or when Manu is resting (unless of course he has Steve Nash or Derek Fisher guarding him, but with that….you guys understand, right?).
April 3rd, 2010 at 8:06 am
Amazing what this bahiense, surprising his game and show the game, Ginobili has returned to its level and hopefully this will continue in order to continue enjoying the good basketball.
April 3rd, 2010 at 8:44 am
Think that we still have a shot at the ring. Not a full-loaded magazine, but one or two shots. The team looks quite sharp, and correctly managing TP insertion (like JB is suggesting), we should have better possibilities. The biggest problem could be that in our previous succesful travels to the rings, not only TD, MG & TP were performing in championship mode, but always have had one unsung hero stepping up doing the right things, like Horry, Barry, Kerr, or consistent D and corner threes by Bowen. Since I’m not able to watch many games, I can’t imagine who of our benchers could take this role.
Seeing the good side, Hill & RJ (playing at this level), are a real improvement over past rosters. Perhaps they’ll hit the critical shots.
April 3rd, 2010 at 9:08 am
manu is currently the go-to-guy of the team as long as he plays his astounding performance(s), although it’s too late for him to be MVP, we DO have a chance to win the ring as long as he plays in this level - consistently
April 3rd, 2010 at 10:24 am
As long as MANU is playing like this and TD is the TD of last night, anything is possible.
It ain’t over til it’s over.
I like JESSE BLANCHARD’s idea of how to play once TP comes back. MAINLY because you cannot separate RJ from MANU.
MANU IS AWESOME! I love how he just took it right at HOWARD. It reminded me of how he used to take it right at SHAQ. Am I crazy or did that 43 points come easily?
April 3rd, 2010 at 10:45 am
This was a very encouraging win. For one thing, this is possibly the best team we’ve beaten all year; the LAL and Cleveland teams we beat weren’t at full health. Orlando is, in my opinion, a legit contender when they’re completely healthy.
It’s also great to see Timmy score 20+ and pull down 8 while still getting rest-and this against a contender.
And lastly, I’m very glad to hear that McDyess contributed. His struggles haven’t gotten as much press as RJ’s, but he’s a pretty important piece; I thought the idea in the offseason was that he’d be Timmy’s primary reinforcement in the frontcourt. He was supposed to upgrade our frontcourt from last year. Until now, he hasn’t outplayed Bonner or Blair. If he gets closer to doing what we were hoping he could do, that will be almost as big as Jefferson performing consistently.
There’s still a lot of doubt about this team. One thing we’ve learned since the horrible first half of the season is that Manu is still a stud, a championship caliber player. The wins over Cleveland, Boston, Houston, and now Orlando show that the team as a whole is playing better. RJ has gotten in the flow a little better, Hill’s upped his game a bit, even Bonner’s looked better to me. The latter two gains are not certain, in my view, but the biggest remaining question marks are the frontcourt and TP. If Timmy and McDyess can play at this level or near it from here on out, I like our chances of advancing to the second round. If in addition, TP’s plantar fasciitis is healed, we could go further.
Congrats to Timmy, McDyess, Manu, and everybody else for a great win. Go Spurs Go!
April 3rd, 2010 at 11:23 am
I know I’m gonna get a lot of heat about this, but we need to go back to the old starting 5. Dyss, TD, Bogans, Hill, and Parker. well the front court is self explanatory. TP needs to start because TP’s 1st quarter usually decides the rest of his game, he needs to get going early. I’m not sure if he can do that of the bench. Hill needs to start cuz he is a bigger contributor as a starter, aka when he is not a play maker. which pushes manu baq 2 the bench. i think its a fact that RJ needs 2 stick with him, so that pushes him 2 the bench and starts bogan which isnt a bad thing. he has been playing solid D lately(Cavs game). and we could use him against nuggets and lakers. on the other hand this makes our bench the best bench in the league. MANU, RMJ, Rj, Blair, Bonner. This is a key 4 couple reasons, it always gives us an extra bost of energy when manu coems off the bench. if we r down r bench could bring us back into the game, and if we are up it could expand the lead. this is very improtant against teams like the Lakers which have no bench whatsoever. being from LA and watching some lakers the Lakers have been struggling with their bench. take the game against the Hornets. they were in a close game, hornets bench outplayed them. yes hornets bench actually outplayed another team’s bench. in the 3rd lakers catched up and the hornets bench took over again. anyhow its not about who starts its about who finishes.
tmrws game is going 2 be huge, if Lakers played the way they did yesterday they’ll be hard to beat. especially, if lamar(who cuzs the most match up problems for us) continues playing this well. its a very good measure up stick.
BTW, since ginobli’s block on Kg and TD’s blocks were not recorded in the box score on sunday, i kept a closer eye last night on the box score. RMJ’s block on Nelson wasnt recorded either.
April 3rd, 2010 at 11:35 am
I think we are best suited to succeed in the 7th spot, as we currently stand. That means we will likely face Utah or Dallas in the first round, and either OKC or Phoenix in the second. Portland has as good a chance as any team to knock out the Lakers, so I like them facing them first. After that, the Lakers have to get through either Denver or Utah/Dallas, so not an easy road at all. We have owned Phoenix historically, and Dallas is still afraid of us. Hollinger’s playoff odds have us with the second highest chance of making the finals out of the West (behind Utah). That was before Utah lost last night and dropped to the 4th spot, facing the Lakers in the second perhaps. Nonetheless, I think our chances of making a playoff run are not terrible, given our seeding.
April 3rd, 2010 at 11:50 am
TP must come off the bench. All season I have been saying RJ, Manu, and Hill needed to be grouped together while, Mason Jr was a better pair up for TP. I think TP off the bench will proved the same spark the spurs need.
Where a player starts or doesnt star isnt important however. I am curious how the spurs will close games. To me, the spurs need to close with Manu, RJ, Hill, Duncan and Mcdysse. This is where I wonder if TP wont become upset. Bc while manu did come off the bench for the spurs, He was always one of the 5 on the floor to close the game. Would TP be ok with not being one of the 5 this year?
April 3rd, 2010 at 12:15 pm
So when the Cavs and Magic are tired and have an off night, and the Spurs are at the top of their game, then the Spurs can eke out a win. This does not bode well for the Spurs’ playoff chances, where you actually have to put together four out of seven.
April 3rd, 2010 at 12:34 pm
Good win, but not fools gold…
Toros Jones called up to Phoenix…Wonder what they saw that we didnt see…..
as for the Parker off the bench chatter,,,,If Tony accepts that role, he has lost his mind. After all, this is a business. Hill is playing well, but he is not better than Tony. Tony Parker can not allow that type of blow to his marketability.
Most think that this coach and Fo are genious. Outside the box type thinkers…
Well, they should really put thier heads together on this one. To mismanage or alienate Parker right now might not be wise.
Tony is top 5 in the league. Has demonstrated his worth worldwide. I doubt if he will allow himself to be treated otherwise.
Beyond that….Ginnobli brutalized the entire magic starting 5, then proceded to embarrass thier bench.
The G-Man has returned….
Uh Oh…..
Decisions, Decisions……
April 3rd, 2010 at 12:37 pm
@Jesse - I like your strategy for handling the return of Tony. It’s nice that unlike last season we actually have depth and players worthy of playing time that will contribute. Tony’s healthy return should save us from the scoring droughts from earlier this season and last post-season.
@Dr.Love - How were the Magic and Cavs tired? Orlando had an easy win the previous might preceded by three OFF days. Cleveland had one game the prior three days before coming to SA. The Spurs haven’t had more than one off day in weeks. Seems those teams had off nights when playing the Spurs because SA out-played them, without one of their three best players. I also don’t know how you call 49% shooting and 10 made 3s (their season avg) an off night. Man, don’t allow facts to get in the way.
April 3rd, 2010 at 2:40 pm
agreed on the tony situation
hack-a-dwight was in full operation last night, and man it was beautiful. it really did feel like a playoff game.
i expect duncan to start being more physical in the low post when the playoffs start. wasn’t that the plan at the beginning of the year anyway?
i would honestly rather face LA in the first round that utah. utah has kicked our tales all season and even if we one that series, we would be taxed heavily going forward. but i guess if we beat LA in the 1st round, the rest of the playoffs would be no cakewalk
April 3rd, 2010 at 2:45 pm
I definitely say we start Parker, bring Ginobili off the bench and keep him (Ginobili) fresh for the 4th quarter and make sure he is running the shit. Parker WILL defer to Ginobili when he is on his game. Jesse is right in saying that unless Nash or Fisher is guarding Parker…….Ginobili needs to be the facilitator. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves in saying that Parker’s coming off the bench, WE DON’T KNOW! If he comes off the bench, it will be the worst decision ever and I don’t think any coach in the league is that stupid. I hope he doesn’t.
On another note, Dwayne Jones is a slug with no real promise to be a contributor to the Spurs other than a hack job. WAY too slow and career back up at best. Phoenix has quality big men in Stoudemire, Amundson (who is someone that can really bring in some energy), Frye (doesn’t play big), and Lopez. They probably just called him up for insurance when any of them gets into serious foul trouble. I seriously doubt he’ll see any REAL minutes.
April 3rd, 2010 at 3:09 pm
It will be interesting to see if Parker’s blistering speed has returned since he has had time to rest his ailing hip and foot. That being said, will he be able to finish with his recently unbandaged hand?
@jesse
I think that was a good suggestion for the rotation.
@Ballhog
Maybe I’m wrong, but I doubt Parker will complain if asked to come off the bench. This is not just because Parker is the type of guy that will do what is asked of him, but because he knows he will be branded a prima donna if he refuses- particularly after all the bench time a stud like Manu has given to the team and the selfless salary sacrifice made by Timmy years back.
April 3rd, 2010 at 3:37 pm
If you didnt get to see Ginobili play last night, I feel sorry for you. He was absolutely amazing.
We gotta extend this guy.
April 3rd, 2010 at 3:41 pm
Matt Bonner is also starting to put the ball on the floor and create his own shot. While it may look ugly the results are actually good. And he played pretty good defense on Rashard Lewis too. I’m impressed with Bonner’s play as of late..although it does look loike he is rushing his 3 point shots a bit. Once he settles down and shoots with confidence he’ll start making a lot more than he has been
April 3rd, 2010 at 4:21 pm
One things that has been evident, esp in an article earlier in the year its all about groupings of players. I relate this kind of to hockey in which u need to come up with line combos.
Using that analogy: the hill-ginobli-jefferson paring has been fantastic. Obviously the spurs will not have a 6 gaurd/SF rotation so parings are everything. Parker and Mason Jr worked excellent last yr and Id like to them together in the line up. To me what the spurs need to avoid is having jefferson and parker on the court together. When parker is in he is the penetrator and it turns RJ into a jump shooter where he is not as good.
Rotation once TP gets back: Parker, Hill, Mason Jr, Mcdysse, Duncan. With Reserves being RJ, Manu, Bonner and Blair. Hairston and Bogans can be used when needed
April 3rd, 2010 at 4:36 pm
Manu is playing too good for him not to start. Our wins over the leagues best teams have been because of Manu. Years ago when Pop brought Manu off the bench it was a great tactic, but maybe it’s time to change things up.
Start Manu, kick some butt and make the other team play catch up to us. Not wait and bring Manu off the bench, then try to catch up to them because our bench is better.
April 3rd, 2010 at 4:45 pm
Jesse Blanchard
April 3rd, 2010 at 7:57 am
Nice post. I think you’re right about the line-up/rotations when TP gets back. It seems that many fail to realize how valuable TP is as our point, and also under-estimate the positive effect he has on our key big guy, TD.
Also, while Manu can play great whether starting or off the bench, why mess with the groove he’s in right now in his starting role? Also, the fact is, we NEED RJ to be as close to the real RJ as he can for the remainder of the season, and RJ does seem to get closer to that with Manu, whether as a starter or off the bench. TP’s role may change slightly in this arrangement, and of course his minutes on the floor will depend very much on how healthy he is, and how quickly he can shake off the rust. But I’m convinced he should be starting for whatever minutes he can contribute. I think GHill can contribute quite well with the first rotation off the bench.
pastrypride
April 3rd, 2010 at 10:45 am
“This was a very encouraging win. For one thing, this is possibly the best team we’ve beaten all year; the LAL and Cleveland teams we beat weren’t at full health. Orlando is, in my opinion, a legit contender when they’re completely healthy.”
Good point, pastry! Let’s hope it can continue through the rest of the regular season, and then translate into playoff success. I just think it’s going to be tough for our front line to hold up against the bigger front lines in a 7-game playoff series. We’ll see.
Renato
April 3rd, 2010 at 11:50 am
“To me, the spurs need to close with Manu, RJ, Hill, Duncan and Mcdysse. This is where I wonder if TP wont become upset. ”
Why would you put a guy with little playoff experience as a “closer” in front of a guy (assuming he’s healthy enough) who ran the point for three Spurs championships? TP would probably be less upset than a lot of Spurs fans.
April 3rd, 2010 at 4:55 pm
Renato
April 3rd, 2010 at 4:21 pm
“To me what the spurs need to avoid is having jefferson and parker on the court together. When parker is in he is the penetrator and it turns RJ into a jump shooter where he is not as good.”
The difficulties with TP/RJ have primarily been with Manu on the bench. It’s best to play TP, RJ, Manu, & TD together as much as possible. In this grouping, Manu would be more the facilitator. It would probably also be good to have Bonner get even more time than Dice in this grouping.
April 3rd, 2010 at 5:23 pm
If Tony comes back without injury and starts playing like he did last year… Holy fuck. Our team suddenly looks nice & stacked. We’d have one of the top 3 players, for their respective positions, at the PF, SG & PG spots…
If we beat Lakers, then I start to gain some sort of hopes for the playoffs.
April 3rd, 2010 at 9:34 pm
Now that the SPURS have officially clinched a playoff berth, I wouldn’t be surprised if POP starts to rest people.
We all know SPURS never care about seeding. I hope he doesn’t lay off the pedal too much. It’s not about seeding. It’s about building confidence now.
April 3rd, 2010 at 11:07 pm
stick to same line up of starters.hill,manu,RJ,TD,dice.chemistry is there now,camaraderie starts to exist.
no way u cn insert TP in the starting line up after hving an injury.he needs to see his time and focus on how he will be going to help the bench players,maybe his injury will make him a better passer and add his incredible offensive skills,if that happens then watch out other teams that is scary,but just maybe who knows.
i think now is the time for the spurs that parker coming off the bench is much better rather than manu and hill off the bench.TP is an offensive booster and spurs bench needs scoring the fact that bogans,blair,mason and bonner are not well known for their offensive prowess.spurs starting line up has lots of players who cn score at any given time especially manu,also duncan and hill.i think this strategy will work perfectly.then in the crucial stretch you have parker,manu,TD,rj,dice wow what a heck of a line up.all players has that finals experiences.all are veterans, pressure will not kill them.
April 3rd, 2010 at 11:07 pm
Let’s start talking about DeJuan Blair.
Blair lives down the block and he gets almost everything thrown to his premise. 10pts 11reb in 17 minutes, almost every single night?
He is young and full of energy, we should unshackle him and let him do his thing for 30min… Say 20pts 23reb a night while actually being the glass cleaner, not the 1st-2nd-3rd n for heaven’s sake nor the 4th option. What every contending teams lack is a hustler who can offensively grab the miss and put it back in the hole. And this season when I watch Blair doing exactly, i feel as much joy as Duncan shooting that patented off-the-bank shot, Manu driving to the rim for uncontested layups, Parker doing his teardrops. Lakers have Lamar Odom and he played such role brilliantly. Lakers r my 30th fave team and Spurs r my 1st. I really want San An to at least make the Finals over Lakers with this bunch. San Antonio have probably the best lineup sans Bowen. And we could still win it this year. Of course, with Manu leading the way. Cheers!
April 4th, 2010 at 4:20 am
I agree junierizzle, if we can keep beating good teams, that’s great for our confidence, and horrible for the opposition. Who cares who beat who back in December, what matters is who is better at the start of the playoffs.
April 4th, 2010 at 6:30 am
I think the x-factor for the playoffs will be George Hill. Pop’s confidence in his play has catapulted him into a veteran role. His doing well in the playoffs will be tantamount to our success.
Manu, Timmy and Tony’s playoff acumen is going to be a nightmare for anyone.
McDyess, Bogans and RJ will feed off the aforementioned Spurs experience and won’t get in the way of Pop’s decision making. They won’t be affected by the playoff atmosphere. They will shine.
Bonner, Mason are Spurs tested and will do their best to hit their shots.
Blair will probably be relegated to very unique minutes, much like Hill in the playoffs last year.
I’m extremely excited with our chances in the playoffs and the Spurs system seems squarely in place.
Getcha popcorn ready!
April 4th, 2010 at 8:26 am
Parker needs to come off the bench a fill the Ginobili role. I have been saying this ever since this starting lineup started playing well together. Parker off the bench with spot up shooters such as Mason and Bonner much better utilizes the talent on the roster.
As far as George Hill is concerned, no way would I bring him off the bench. Let’s no forget he’s only in his 2nd year and like David Thorpe on espn.com has written younger players do better when they have a consistent role. We’ve had Hill doing way more than we would have thought and he hasn’t let us down yet, of course he could potentially play just as well off the bench but this late in the season that’s a chance I wouldn’t take.
April 5th, 2010 at 1:16 am
Well the good news is RMJ will not play once Parker is back (and hopefully Hill soon as well).
He’s the only guy who really doesn’t bring anything to the game out of all the guys who currently play. Everyone else has improved (RJ, Dice, Bonner, Bogans).
He’ll be the odd man out. They already have a 9 man rotation with….
TD/Manu/Parker/Hill/Dice/RJ/Blair/Bonner/Bogans
And Hairston will see time for defensive purposes (although it’ll be very spotty at best).
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