San Antonio Spurs 119, Houston Rockets 102
AT&T CENTER–George Hill has been shuffled through the lineup from bench to starter, from point guard to shooting guard and back. Along the way the second year guard has been asked to be part Tony Parker, part Avery Johnson with a dash of Bruce Bowen.
While not quite yet an amalgamation of all these parts, what Hill has proven to be is one hell of a player.
“He has some big shoes to fill without Tony (Parker) playing,” Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said. “He’s doing a great job getting the team to play, scoring, playing ‘D’ on, usually, the best opponent. He’s been huge for us.”
Hill scored a career-high 30 points to go with seven assists and five steals, leading the San Antonio Spurs to a 119-102 victory over the Houston Rockets at the AT&T Center.
Tim Duncan recovered from an off night in New Jersey, recording a double double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Despite Duncan’s brilliant first half (where he scored all 17 points on 8-10 shooting) and the Spurs shooting a blistering 62.5 percent, the Rockets were able to keep up with the pace and trailed only five at halftime.
Aaron Brooks picked up where he left off from his last meeting with the Spurs, pouring in 16 first half points. Then, George Hill took over. The second-year combo guard helped the Spurs pull away with an 11-point third quarter, sparked in part by an outstanding defensive quarter in which he recorded three steals and held Brooks to just three points.
“We talked about knuckling down on defense, we gave up 59 points in the first half and we usually try to limit teams to 24 points per quarter,” Hill said. “We felt like we gave up to much so we buckled down on defense during the second half.â€
Hill wasn’t alone in the backcourt as Manu Ginobili, who–to the relief of Spurs fans everywhere–returned from a one-game absence caused by back spasms apparently no worse for the wear.
With Tony Parker out, the Spurs have relied almost exclusively on Ginobili to generate quality shots for the entire team. After the Spurs struggled offensively against the New Jersey Nets on Monday, Ginobili quickly put the Spurs back on track with a layup while assisting on two others to start the game.
“I feel great. I’m kind of surprised how good I feel,” Manu Ginobili said. “My back didn’t bother me at all tonight which makes me very happy.â€
Ginobili’s presence relieves Hill of some of the playmaking duties, allowing Hill to concentrate on his strengths (defense and scoring) while learning how to be a point guard on the fly.
“His defense is very good,” said Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich. “He’s getting more and more confident on the offense and slowly starting to take charge of situations, which is tough to do for someone that hasn’t been a point guard for very long.”
To say that Hill’s continued growth is paramount to the Spurs future would be a huge understatement. To say that he’s met expectations thus far would also be a huge understatement. If he was playing in a larger market, i have no doubt he would be leading the MIP race. It seems like just about every other game he is doing something outstanding, and even then on most of the other nights he’s been solid. For playing mostly SG in college, he’s matured quickly into a solid backup point. When in the game with Manu or Parker (or both) he’s deadly as an extra playmaker that can take advantage of the driving lanes they create. On offense, he’s what we expected RJ to be. I’m looking forward to Hill continuing to get better.
I won’t make a prediction on how good he will end up, but i’m sure i won’t be disappointed.
amazing kid. really a testament to what one can do when you dedicate and really work at your craft. love what he’s done for our team, and hope we can hang on to him for the long haul.
if we manage to bring splitter over, i’d think we can avoid dropping to the lottery with hill and blair in the stable, even after the big three have ridden off into the sunset. speaks to our player’s high character, front office’s foresight, and our player development personnel. i love the spurs.
HILL was great tonight.
Now, don’t get crazy peeps. We still shouldn’t trade TP.
I especially loved how he went toe to toe with AB. He knew he let AB get the best of him last time. GHILL came out like he took it personal. He stripped him twice and was all over him. He also lit AB up for 30 points. My favorite play was when he busted that 3 right in AB’s face towards the end.
I don’t know how they are going to use TP but I hope they don’t play together like they were at the beginning of the season. One of em has to come off the bench.
Picking up from this article about Hill and the pervious set of comments about rebuilding.
Some criticize the idea of tanking a season, arguing we’ve always been top in finding gems in the late first round and that we can use that to rebuild. So I ask: how many franchise players did we pick up? Answer: ZERO. We picked Manu in the late second round and it was of course also part luck.
So if you don’t want to trade Manu and/or Parker and you don’t tank a season, I fail to see how do you ever get to pick in the first 1-5 spots.
Someone said tanking is for cowards and inept organizations.
The ’06-’07 Celtics were protagonists of one of the greatest tanking jobs ever.
In ’07-’08 they won the title. I don’t know if it’s coward, surely it’s not inept.
Also it seems that some of you would rather be a playoff hopeful for sure rather than possibly a winner. Well, forgive me for thinking big! I consider the Spurs a top franchise and I believe she should be in title contention every year, or at least aim for that.
People say going to the lottery is no assurance to be able to effectively rebuild, and I completely agree.
But if you keep the personnel we have we end up in mediocrity FOR SURE.
We are lucky to be in a position where we can rebuild quickly thanks to the fact that we do have some good young pieces and expiring contracts.
Look at the Knicks and Miami: they have freed up all that cap space for this summer, but they are afraid they may not be able to pry one of the top free agents away from other teams, because their squad have no pieces whatsoever to complement them.
Miami was wrong/unlucky in selecting Beasley, and at present you cannot count on him to attract other players, and the Knicks have trown away so many picks that the only valuable piece they have to show is Gallinari.
If we were to rebuild, we would have Duncan, Hill and Blair alerady.
Think 2 years from now: you have/had high lottery picks, a good young core, and Duncan’s 22 M$ come off the books. You would be attractive to a top tier free agent.
@Francesco – I think TD deserves better than a tanking team or team that’s rebuilding from scratch. The Spurs should keep trying to contend despite how futile the effort might be, just for the respect of what TD has done for this team, but hey that’s my thought – can’t blame you for wanting this old team to start over.
Oh and I think you’re downplaying the psychology factor a little bit. One can’t teach winning mentality to players when they’re losing badly (ie. tanking). I doubt Hill would’ve developed this much if he played for a lousy losing team like NJ or Minnesota (look how bad Devin Harris is playing this season).
@Ian
Look, it pains me to talk rebuilding too, but it pains me even more to think about years of futility to come, if we don’t get started soon.
And I agree about teaching a winning mentality, but Hill would have been part of a winning mentality for 2 years already. The tanking would be for 1 season only.
Nice win. Great shooting night. Keep it going on Friday vs Orlando and through the weekend.
I guess the sky wasn’t falling after all. Just a fluke bump on the Jersey Turnpike.
I don’t even mind if the Spurs play the Lakers in the 1st round. They are presumably going to have to beat them anyway to get to the finals. So why not try to take them out in the first round. I think that they can do it, and why not in the first round. If they loose there are not any trophies for second place anyway. My name is Johnny and I’m from New York and I say beat them all. (little reference to Starship Troopers).
now, I have been drinking the kool aid, so I’ll keep it brief, but seeing Duncan set the tone early and our guards tear it up against a quick back court leads me to the question: Is our playoff success going to come down to Bonner and Mason ? Seems like when we start playing the way we want to, it comes down to our 3pt shooting role players to make the difference against the best teams….heres hoping Mason is warming up for the playoffs…
Also…Atlanta beat lakers and OKC did the celtics….we are definitely in the mix this year….how we hold up in a seven game series is the unknown quantity
Good Win at Houston.
Hill did great job on defense and made shots.
Duncan went home. Home to the low block where he made his name. Hope he has finally decided that his being a perimeter shooter is ridiculous.
Finally, Bogans and Bonner got the proper amount of minutes. Keep that going and even I get optimistic.
Also, I went back and watched a few clips of Tiago Splitter in action. He didnt look to be as good as Spurs claim. Might be good to pack and ship this guy.
Pop’s best piece of coaching all year long.
Nice win.
Shame none of the other teams we’re jostling with playoff position for did.
Hopefully, we’ll be able able to climb up the standings and make sure we avoid the Jazz & Lakers in the first round.
@BALLHOG that last line brought a smile to my face!
@Fransesco You’re 100% right. We should try to set the record next year… the one the Nets couldn’t get this year. That will be a great move for the fans, the players, and should sell out plenty of games. We should work a couple of deals and see if maybe a package with Tim, Tony, and Manu could land us not just the top pick, but picks 1-3. I’ve submitted your plan to the organization, and we’ll continue discussion once they have had a chance to digest, OK?
George Hill had a great game last night. Although it was one of those games that I thought we were gonna give away in the fourth after the Rockets came out hot. Nice win.
However…we aren’t getting out of the 8th spot, we are going to face the Lakers(ironic because at the sewasons outset we were supposed to be the challenger to their throne)but we’re gopnna get swept. with or without tony parker
Bringing Manu off the bench historically has brought an infusion of energy from an All Star caliber player, and a great way to keep the opposing team off-balance.
I am hoping that (if he’s physically able) Tony will be used the same way as Manu was. Pop should invert the formula by continuing to start Manu — and preserve the recently-developed chemistry with TD and RJ — then bring TP off the bench to motor past the other team’s reserves like a cyclone.
I think this would also keep TP fresher for the crunch-time minutes, since TP has a history of starting the game strong and fast, but running out of gas at the end of the game.
bently,
lol, the Spurs will not be swept by anyone, man ,show some pride.
Hey folks,
Unfortunately, I did not get to see the game last night. I checked the box score and was impressed with the numbers our starters put up. From what I saw in the stats, the bench still seemed to struggle without a real distributor. I also noticed that Blair, despite putting up otherwise solid numbers tied Mason for the worse +/- in the game, -7, and again seem to be fouling too much.
Can anyone who saw the game post their observations of Blair as well as Duncan’s performance in the second half? I’d appreciate it.
The SPuRS are not mediocre, they are a good team that needs only retool, not rebuild. Tanking, even to just fall out of the playoffs and pin hopes on the lottery, wastes our stars time. Even trading all vets and landing a player like David Robinson again, its not like the Young Guns ever won a championship.
Give it up Francesco.
No one is tanking anything.
Even when the Celtics “tanked”. There were a lot of good players that year. ANd two possible Franchise players in ODEN and DURANT. Despite all of their “tanking” THe C’s still didn’t get the No 1 pick. They had to trade for RAY ALLEN. Then they still had to trade for GARNETT. So them “tanking” didn’t exactly guarantee anything.
They basically had to trade to get two season vets. Which the SPURS already have.
Lazy days are coming. No argument there. But it will be after TD and MANU are gone. You can’t trade TD, MANU or TP and expect a team to give better if not just as good talent in return.
It’s kinda hard to replace 3 future Hall of famers.
just watched last night’s highlights.
@Cheyenne
duncan had an excellent game in terms of efficiency. i don’t see this game as a resurgence of tim duncan’s productivity considering the 6’8 chuck hayes was guarding him all night, but hopefully this game can restore his rhythm.
@ GFoyle
i think you have an interesting perspective of brining tony off the bench. it would make sense for him to blaze the opposing teams bench while manu and td are resting. the only problem is this: TD needs TP to increase his productivity. TP and TD are masters of the two-man, pick and role game. all season, tony has been finding tim for easy layups and jumpers. when tony is on the floor, it stretches opens things up and it allows timmy get free of his defenders due to TP’S, penetration.
start tony, tim, george, keith (sorry b-hog) and dice. george will play some minutes with our second unit consisting of manu, rj, blair, and bonner (sorry b-hog) before being subbed out for parker.
sounds like a nice rotation to me!
nobody is tanking/trading, francesco… it’s a bad idea to begin with but even worse to keep harping on it.
It doesn’t make sense at any level of the business.
Those poor Rockets…
THAT George Hill was not in the scouting reports. Aaron Brooks is probably the fastest guy in the league, and George played stellar defense in my opinion, while scoring his season/career high!!! Love this kid.
Dont forget- Manu had a quiet night and only had 18points, 10 assists. Got to love his brilliance.
I really like to see RJ get going early, it really helps his aggressiveness!
For all the people who think we have no shot yall better think again b/c its all about match-ups and our team can match up with anyone. With the way Manu plays he just adds life into our team. If hill can keep avg 11-15 pts a game and jefferson can avg the same when tony returns i dont think anyone would wanna play us in the playoffs b/c we have palyoff players they all know what it takes and pop will be able to disect any team knowing we will have the fire power to compete when our d isn’t up to par on any particular night…not giving us a ring or anyting im just saying don’t pull the plug yet.
Tanking for an entire season when we have a 50 win team?
Yeah, that’s the recipe for success…..
I SAY WE STAY IN THE 8TH SPOT, BRING ON THE LAKERS, I BELIEVE WE CAN TAKE THEM OUT!!!!!!!! MANU IS FOCUSED!!!!!!! HILL IS PLAYING AWESOME!! RJ FINALLY FOUND HIS TOUCH!!! AND WE WILL HAVE A HEALTY PARKER!!! AND A RESTED DUNCAN!!
@ Francesco
You say we’ve picked up zero franchise players with our draft picks, but wasn’t it you who said Parker and Ginobili were basically #1 picks? I’m not understanding your arguments now. Clear it up fo me if I’m taking it the wrong way.
So I watched the game on FSN last night and Bill and Sean had Buford on as a guest during the game. Buford had a lot of things to say and sounded very candid. He basically told us what we all know about Hill: he’s a hard worker, a great learner, and has a great attitude. He has improved a little faster than they had hoped, but it’s all because of his basketball IQ, which they knew was extremely high.
On Splitter: He’s a large, active body who can rebound and play defense. Buford compared him to Joakim Noah. To me, that sounds like the exact type of big man we need. Now we just gotta get him here.
Another thing he said was that Hairston has the respect of his teammates. They way he talked about Hairston, I interpreted that as meaning Hairston figures into the long term plans of the organization. I think organization’s investment in Hairston is going to start paying off soon and I bet this makes Jefferson just a little more expendable.
Again, this is all Buford, not me.
@ All anti-tankers
BRAVO! I’d rather go through a decade of 20 win seasons knowing my team is doing its best to win and rebuild than to sit through 1 season of tanking. Tanking is just a big “F**k You” to the fans.
Spurs don’t need to tank an entire season just so they might possibly get a top 3 pick. Even if they get the #1 pick, it could be a weak draft and only produce a decent role player. In the draft, there are absolutely no guarantees. If we want to move up in the draft (and I think its something we should look at this year) then package the rights to Tiago Splitter with our first round pick, but don’t tank a whole year.
It’s become more and more obvious to me that Hill and Parker are both combo guards. Sure Parker is a little more PG than SG and Hill is more SG than PG, but those differences are minor. Hill is a better defender while Parker is a better passer. Hill is a better shooter while Parker is better finisher, but overall, their games both produce similar results. With Tony injured this month, Hill has stepped in and averaged 16.5 pts, 4.4 assts, 1.1 stls, and 3.8 rebounds/game. This year Tony has averaged 16.5 pts, 5.7 assts, .54 stls, and 2.4 rebounds. The one difference I see is that for some reason, the Spurs move the ball better when Hill is on the floor even though Hill has fewer assists than Parker.
With that said, it will be interesting to see how Hill and Jefferson react when Tony is moved back into the starting lineup. Both players have really excelled since Tp’s injury. One thing I haven’t heard people discuss is the fact that many on this blog were bitching about Parkers lack of ball movement and getting others involved months BEFORE his injury. Now that Tony has been out for an extended period of time, we see GHill really take off, Manu play at an All NBA level, and Jefferson finally get some grove back. For those that are still stuck in the 2007 Finals, these facts are an inconvenient truth.
It will be interesting to see how some of you explain (spin) all these facts, but I’m more than willing to explain what I see.
@rj
Thanks.
In respect to tanking…. we did that already. Remember how awesome the 95-96 season was? Our leading scorer was Dominique Wilkins. We were a few ping pong balls away from Keith Van Horn, Tony Battie or Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan. How much better off would the franchise have been with Van Horn, Battie or Mercer instead of Duncan?
I totally agree that we need length to help Duncan. Splitter is unproven in the NBA, success in Europe does not always translate to success in the NBA. In addition, with his first season in the NBA it’s almost as if he’ll be a rookie. Even if he’s solid there will be some growing pains. Not to mention there’s a very good chance he takes the money and doesn’t play for the Spurs next year. The NBA isn’t going anywhere (it will still be around 3 years down the road) and with a possible lock out can you blame him?
This will be a very interesting offseason for the Spurs. Without length we cannot match up against the Lakers or Mavs. Duncan is showing signs of wear and tear. Of course he is… he’s years older and is an island out there. Our other bigs are a stretch 4, a 6′ 7″ rookie and an old McDyess. Perhaps RJ’s expiring contract can lure a trade or if Roger finds his shooting touch we can package him off as well. I for one would throw up just a little bit if we let Manu go. We’ve already seen firsthand how tricky trades can be via RJ. If we package Manu or TP off, there’s no guarantee we’ll get something equal or better in return. Priorities in the offseason should be an athletic wing, shot blocking Big and “serviceable” PG.
I say avoid the Lakers at all costs. I don’t think we match up well with them and I definitely don’t like seeing the AT&T half full of Lakers “fans”.
Besides, believe it or not, the Lakers might be beaten by somebody else. This “we have to beat them sometime” thing isn’t 100% likely. I’d take a rematch with the Mavs, as that could be more fun win or lose.
Last time the Spurs played the Rockets, I mentioned Hairston as a secret weapon against Brooks. Considering he played with Brooks for three years in college, he knows his playing style. I wonder if he tipped Hill off to a few tricks. It also looks like he was fairly productive with the high number of minutes he earned. Keep Playing Malik!
As for the playoffs, I want to see the Lakers lose, however, I don’t know if the Spurs are the best fir for that. L.A. has shown some vulnerability against both Portland and Oklahoma City. Should the Spurs take the 8th spot and somehow beat the Lakers, they would have an easier second round, but it seems to me like the 6th or 7th seed gives them a higher chance for success.
Conventional wisdom is that we don’t want the Lakers in the first round. Really? The goal is not to “make noise”, the goal is to win a championship. I still think this team, however inconsistent, can go on a tear and possibly win it all. Slim odds, I know, but still…
Anyway, playing the Lakers early might be good. One would think that the team would be a little fresher, not coming off previous playoff series, and possibly give a better chance of winning.
Probably poor logic, but the road to the title leads through the Lakers. Doesn’t matter when the Spurs play them, we have to beat them.
Also, I still like the idea of Varnado from Mississippi State. Definitely a shot-blocking presence, in any case.
@ Hobson,
I really think a lot of the improved ball movement has to do with Manu’s creativity. We saw it off the bench with him working with Blair. As a starter he’s recieved more ball handling duties with TP out. I think that has made more of a difference than Hill’s play as a PG.
Someone else mentioned bringing in TP off the bench. As crazy as that sounds, we used to bring Manu off the bench. Who knows? Are you allowed to bring a Finals MVP off the bench? We really need to keep Manu’s creativity out there with the starters. He makes other players better around him. RJ’s game has improved by leaps and bounds playing with Manu. Keep in mind TP’s game has been hampered all season with injuries and his numbers do show that. At least he was forced to sit with his broken hand. Hopefully that will let his feet heal up. Without that quick burst, the flaws in his game showed much more this season. On the flip side, it will be good to get a 15+ scorer back in the line up heading into the play-offs.
KEVIN, don’t be scared. JOSE, you got the right idea.
I have been saying this for a while. It’s not the end of the world if THe SPURS get the 8th seed.
You have to play the LAKERS sooner or later.
WHy not now. The SPURS will be at their healthiest in the first round.
I don’t know if any you cares about it, but today the Hollinger Playoffs Odds show the Spurs as the second favourite to win the West behind Utah. His calculations put a lot of emphasis on the latest 25% of the games played, so basically after the All Star break. To win it all, however, it shows Cleveland and Orlando as run away favourites.
I think G Hill could be the one coming off the bench for Manu, and play with TP and TD for 2-4 minutes. Then Mau comes back for any of the backcourt guys, depending on the game and the opponent.
If this was soccer, tanking wouldn’t be a good idea as it demotes your team to a lesser divison which means less revenue.
I wish American sports would be like european sports that demote teams and would keep the idea of tanking as less attractive as possible.
Stern create the primer league of basketball!!
I really think that Orlando will win it all this year. They really do have a great team without any glaring holes, and they have great depth to boot, more so than Cleveland. I think the Finals will be the Mavs and the Magic, and I think it’ll go to six games before Orlando sees it’s first championship. If not, I’d bet on the Lakers returning and losing to the Magic in a re-match of last years. Here’s to hoping im full of it, and the Spurs make me eat crow.
Utah does not scare me in a series at all. All 4 games this season against them were played early in the year and at least two of them were ‘giveaways’ by the Spurs. Now that we have our defense and our chemsitry in order / in the works, I see the spurs taking the Jazz out in 6; we’re deeper, and were more versatile. I’d almost guarantee a win over the Jazz if we were to get a late season match-up with them again.
Yesterday is shows exactly what people expected from the spurs all year. Now imagine all that with parker too. While hill and ginobli´s play has been fantastic as of late, the guy I am really impressed has been RJ. He has looked very good lately attacking the hoop and taking less jump shots. Thats what the spurs need from him.
I also was very happy with Pop giving hairston and temple some minutes in the fourth. It allows him to see what they have and in a blow out it seemed great.
They are starting to look good and I think if they can find a way to draw the #& seed, maybe they have a chance at a playoff run.
#7 seed
@ThatBigGuy, I think Buford compared Splitter to Varejao, not Noah. Similar hair but different levels of athleticism.
@Hobson, the ball moves better when Hill is in because Manu is also in. Without Manu it all comes to a screeching halt.
Not surprised that after Net embarrassment we come back with a solid win against a struggling & depleted Rocket squad at home (no Battier & Martin). Congrats to GHill on a career high, maybe in steals too? The real “bounce back” though would be a win against the Magic on Friday. That will be an interesting test to see if can try to immediately reclaim momentum from the big win in Boston on Sunday.
Now, if our goal is to stay in the the playoffs as long as we can, then:
– not fearing, or even wanting to play the Lakers in the first round is either illogical or naive, or both.
– thus, we want to avoid the 8th seed at all costs – in fact, let’s hope we don’t look back at the Net game after losing the 7th seed to the Blazers in a tie-breaker.
– those of you who think we have more than a snowballs chance in hell of beating LA, regardless of round, are dreaming (although it’s highly likely that we’ll win at least one game).
– nobody has ever wanted to be the eighth seed in the conference that has the defending NBA champions.
– our best match-ups in round one would be Phoenix, or a Denver team without a healthy Kenyon Martin (if recent reports are to be believed, a distinct possibility).
With Parker out and Manu And RJ finally playing well the team finally has a consistent personality. The FO has to resign Manu to stay viable. With Hill’s progress I wonder if they will consider trading Parker. It’s a possibility they’ll consider especially with TP wanting to play fir the NT.
Kevin and Oeste
your comments about facing the Lakers are correct. We just dont match up well with them, and we cant beat them in a seven game series. But we could beat any other team in this conference, let someone else take the Lakers down and if no one does then we try(if we get that far)
I would really lkove to play the Jazz or the Mavs, that would be lovely
The way Buford was talking last night, he seemed to imply that it was pretty much a lock that Splitter would join the Spurs next season. Am I mistaking in my read of that? It’s contrary to other reports I’ve read, including one here not long ago. Anyone know better?
On taking on the Lakers: one point that no one has raised is that Kobe seems clearly to be laboring to keep a high pace for an entire game. I think age is catching up with him, as it does everyone. He can no longer “will” his team to victory (just as our own TD can’t). So I say it behooves us to play them later rather than earlier. No matter who they play first, they won’t be as fresh in the second round as they’d be in the first, particularly since Phil will likely start resting his starters soon.
Finally, what was outlined here yesterday about Manu’s play against the Celtics is our key to success from this point forward. Namely, he is completely unpredictable in what he will do. That makes it hard as hell for anyone to game plan against us. It keeps opponents completely off balance. So I agree that he should start, but not sure if TP or GH should start alongside him. The truth is that Manu could easily be a 10-assist-a-game guy for several more years if the Spurs played him that way. His most important skills are his brain and court vision. I’d go so far as to say that NO ONE in the league has a higher basketball IQ. NO ONE!
Agutierrez, I also thought Buford sounded confident about signing Splitter but I wouldn’t go as far as “pretty much a lock”.
@Jim Henderson
Not sure about you, but I think a first round matchup with the Lakers is what the doctor ordered. As I explained to my MavsFan friend the other day, the standard in SA is different. Measured by rings, not how long you stay in the playoffs. If they are going to win it all, it goes through LA anyway. If these Spurs are not going to win the title, then a first round bow-out and longer offseason for healing and rest is exactly what is needed. I hate to go through 3 rounds of black-and-blue basketball against the likes of Utah and Denver only to lose to LA in the conference finals.