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Buck Harvey, San Antonio Express News: One experiment has been especially baffling. Exactly why did Popovich bench George Hill for Jacque Vaughn? The difference, this time, is that the shuffling is still going on as the season comes to an end. Several veterans said it Sunday; the Spurs had never had such flux so late. The other day Popovich was asked about his rotations, and he shook his head. “I’m still all over the map,” he said, and he laughed. So do you have a timetable? “If I do, I better gear it up pretty quick. We don’t have many games left. We are going to do it by the seat of our pants this year. We will try to see if we can have it the way we want it by the time the first-round game comes.”

Brian Windhorst, Cavs Beat: Drew Gooden played well but explain how he gets more playing time and more shots than Duncan? Don’t know. Pop likes to take it easy with Duncan at times but this was no time to do so, there’s just 10 days left in the regular season and the Spurs are in a battle. Also, Roger Mason has fallen back to the pack. He used to lead in the NBA in 3-point shooting and now he’s not in the top 15 and today he made no impact.

Jeff McDonald, Express News: He was on his way to meet with the Spurs’ medical staff to determine whether the stiffness he felt in his right ankle during the team’s 101-81 loss to Cleveland was anything to be alarmed about.
“I was a little sore,” Ginobili said. “I played a lot of minutes (Friday) in Indiana, with not much rest in between. I really don’t know the reason it was sore. I’ll talk to the doctors, and we’ll see. I want to see if it’s normal or not.”

LJ Ellis, SpursTalk: Drew Gooden gave the Spurs another solid effort. He once again scored in a variety of different ways and his energy on both ends was commendable. Gooden has proven he can produce. The trick for Pop will be to figure out best to get that production out of him. The cold, hard truth is that Gooden is a ball hog who has a penchant for breaking the rhythm of the offense and his defense is going to be a liability for at least the rest of the season. That said, the Spurs desperately need his scoring punch and his lively body on the boards. Hopefully Pop will master when and how Gooden should be utilized.

Charley Rosen, Fox Sports: However, it’s also quite evident that Duncan is finally paying the price for playing 893 regular-season and 155 playoff games thus far in his 12 years in the NBA. Given his lack of bulging musculature, the pounding he takes (and gives) in his pivotal battles, and his 32 birthdays, it’s undeniable that Duncan isn’t the game-in-game-out force that he once was.

Jon Krolik, Cavs the Blog: Mo, Delonte, and LeBron outscored the Spurs by themselves, scoring 82 points on 55 attempts. (TS%=74.5%)…Happiness is going back to the highlights of LeBron’s dunks tonight and realizing that Drew Gooden is standing outside the point, not rotating, on most of them. Although he was the team’s second-leading scorer tonight, so it’s not like he’s killing them.

Steve Aschburner, SI.com: Robinson, this famous NBA superstar, this MVP candidate and scoring leader, this officer and gentleman and multimillionaire, was wearing the exact same model of watch as I had on my left wrist. It was a rubber watch, a G-Shock digital gizmo from Casio with assorted dials and buttons, half a toy actually, retailing for about $60. In a professional sports world of Rolexes and Cartiers, that Robinson would opt for something so completely utilitarian and unaffected impressed the heck out of me, in ways something shiny, gilded and baubled never would have. Besides, it suited him and his game, all about getting the job done — whether telling time or outplaying an opponent — with little extraneous flash or drama. And besides that, I liked the idea of telling people that an NBA big shot wore my watch, when Madison Avenue kept telling us to wear, spend and be like them.

Henry Abbott, TrueHoop: David Robinson’s 1994-95 regular season is the one [Kevin] Pelton’s system ranks as his best. The most similar 2008-2009 players:

• Dwight Howard 92.8
• Tim Duncan 89.7
• Kevin Garnett 84.8
• Al Jefferson 84.8
• LeBron James 82.0

Note that Kevin Garnett and Al Jefferson tied here. And in some way, I can picture Robinson as a combination of the two: Garnett on defense, Jefferson on offense.