Pregaming: Spurs vs. Kings

April 6, 3:51 pm — by

AT&T CENTER — Second-to-the-last home game of the regular season tonight when the Spurs host the Sacramento Kings. The Spurs will boast a full roster against the Kings, although coming off last night’s win over the Hawks, we’ll see how many minutes the Spurs’ core plays.

Before tip-off, here are some notes from pregame shootaround:

  • When I got out to my normal spot behind the Spurs bench for shootaround, the only player working out was Kings guard, and former Spur, Beno Udrih. Udrih was getting some shots up with Kings Assistant Coach Mario Elie. A blast from the past, indeed.
  • There was a similar rotation to Sunday for big men looking to get shots up. DeJuan Blair and Tim Duncan split the Spurs’ end of the floor while Tiago Splitter waited his turn on the sideline. Perhaps it’s a seniority thing?
  • Spurs Assistant Coach Chad Forcier worked with Tiago Splitter on his shooting touch early in Splitter’s time on the floor. Forcier threw the ball off of the glass and Tiago had to catch, balance and release the ball in a shooting motion, all with his right hand. Splitter’s left hand wasn’t allowed to touch to ball to help control it.
  • Coach Pop was very complimentary of the Kings during his pregame press conference. “They want to beat everybody, they’ve won six out of their last eight, and you don’t just do that with luck. You do it with purpose and professionalism and commitment.”
  • Dale Dye of Pounding the Rock asked Coach Pop during his presser about the Jacob Riis quote that Pop and the Spurs are so famous for using as inspiration. The response Pop gave was easily one of the best of the year, and I don’t want to step on the folks at PtR’s toes on this one, seeing as they’ve obviously got something planned around their namesake quote, so I won’t reprint it. But I will definitely post a link to their piece when it’s ready.
  • If the Spurs win tonight and the Lakers lose to the Warriors, the Spurs will clinch home court advantage throughout the Western Conference Playoffs.
  • MSteele

    I eagerly await this quote lol Not a lot we can really take from this game considering it’s a B2B and we won’t really have to deal with this (or Sac town) in the playoffs. Hopefully we get some improvement on D and hopefully Tiagos gets some solid mins… hmm can’t help but think the two could be linked.

  • errrk

    looks like its gonna be another string of DNP’s for tiago. I’m glad pop thinks bonner/ANYONE ELSE works well. I’ll say it again, if that joke bonner gets more than 18 minutes a game during the playoffs say hello to another lakers 3peat.

  • ny spurs fan

    pop’s a genius. he knows what he’s doing. he has 4 rings. bonner/blair’s a brilliant combo. splitter is worthlesss. bonner, rightfully, should play 20x’s as many minutes as him.

  • idahospur

    60 WINS!!!!

    GO SPURS GO!!!!

  • MSteele

    @nyspursfan
    Could not agree more Splitter has done nothing in his San Antonio career to warrant minutes while Matt is a Dennis Rodman/David Robinson reincarnation, with his ability to defend and rebound.
    Do you know it was proven in a recent survey by the NY Times that people with 4 rings don’t make mistakes!!! True story

  • SpurINhouston

    I hope that was sarcasm in your post because Dennis Rodman/David Robinson don’t even fit in the same line as Bonner….unless all three happen to fancy a sandwich, then I see the correlation.

  • DorieStreet

    @ idahospur - April 6th, 2011 at 6:46pm

  • Bruno

    Bonner 19 minutes playing with TD/Blair had 3 points, 4 rebounds, 2 stls -2
    Splitter 3 minutes playing with Novak had 4 points, 2 rebounds, 1 stl +9

    When Pop will see this?

  • DorieStreet

    ====continued===
    “60 wins!!!!

    First to 20, 30, etc.

    Now—- a couple nights off to rest for the players; 3 days for skull sessions/tinkering by the staff.

    Everybody in the Alamo City -sell out the home finale.

  • MSteele

    Was it nasty of me to have a slight hope that Bonner’s injury was more serious so Tiago would get more mins?? Yes it probably was but come on Pop

  • http://www.48minutesofhell.com Len

    Ric Bucher was on TMZspn recently saying that the Lakers were the favorites out West because the Spurs defense “was mediocre.”

    The irony is that for all the Spurs championship teams, they weren’t picked because they didn’t have enough offensive firepower. No matter what, the national media will never give the Spurs their due.

    Duncan’s Spurs have eclipsed Bird’s Celtics in most every way, but would the media EVER make a point to say that? Not a f###in chance.

    National media = joke

  • LPspursFan

    Why all this venom with Pop’s use of his bigs? It’s like having different tools in your toolbox that can accomplish the task. Pop has led a team to the league’s best record with an assortment of players that many posters on this very blog swore would struggle to win 50 games or even make the playoffs. Our team has proven to this point that the whole can be greater than the sum of the parts. Our players like each other, care about each other and care about playing unselfish, team basketball as coached by the man who brought us four championships.
    When Pop feels the team needs what Tiago - or any other player, for that matter - brings to the game, he’ll call on that player and expect them to be ready.
    Sure, there are times I disagree with Pop on an in-game decision. But a coaching decision that doesn’t work one time will a different time - it’s a game, that’s the way games go.
    Sorry - I just had to get this off my chest.

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