ot: tackie is back. murag migo na sila ni icon king dah.
shaq days are over. injury will still hunt him down this season.
GO SPURS GO.
ot: tackie is back. murag migo na sila ni icon king dah.
shaq days are over. injury will still hunt him down this season.
GO SPURS GO.
hahaha cooler heads prevaili just want to see whats the other side of the coin
nux a pa dai mg sugod
ang season xa nba
hope for the best spurs fan
whaha.
Spurs' practices getting longer
By Mike Monroe
After giving his players a day off from the practice court, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich put them through a session on Sunday that lasted slightly more than two hours, part of a planned expansion of activity designed to have his players in peak condition by opening night.
By unofficial observation, the Spurs have had three practices of two hours or more in the past six days.
“For us, training camp practices get harder as we go,” Popovich said. “We don't start out hard in the beginning. We try to wind it up as we get close to the beginning of the season. It's a good way to try to stay away from injury and let people get back in the swing of things, and
not be Mr. Macho in the very beginning.”
For newcomer Richard Jefferson, playing for his third team in as many years, it seemed like a smart approach for a veteran team.
“He told us that's what it was going to be, that he was going to build up,” Jefferson said. “We had a little idea of what he was trying to accomplish. You come in here, and you know every day is going to get more and more intense. Just like when the season starts, every day, every game is going to get more and more intense.”
Like most NBA coaches, Popovich understands that practice opportunities diminish during the grind of the regular season. He relishes the opportunity to get in good practices, spaced around days off, during the preseason.
Popovich shifts to real-game rotation
By Jeff McDonald
The Dwayne Jones Era ended last week without fanfare. The Curtis Jerrells Era appears to be entering its twilight as well.
It's past the midway point in October, which means the days of Spurs games morphing into a Development League All-Star game not long after intermission are done.
With nine days and two preseason games left until the start of the regular season, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich intends to shift his focus from evaluating young talent in training camp to preparing his veteran players for the games that count.
Translation: When the Spurs next take the floor Tuesday, there will be no jacket required for Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and the rest of the team's regulars.
“We'll probably get a little bit more of a rotation, similar to the minutes some of the guys are going to play in the real games,” Popovich said Sunday.
If you ask Popovich's point guard, it's about time.
Parker says he is eager to see the Spurs' new-look roster — which includes newcomers Richard Jefferson, Antonio McDyess, Theo Ratliff, Keith Bogans and rookie DeJuan Blair — in its entirety.
“The next game is going to be pretty good to see where we're at,” Parker said.
The rest of the preseason has provided but a mere tease.
As is his custom, Popovich has carefully managed the exhibition minutes of his more established players, allowing the youngsters to fight for a place in the team's pecking order. On any given night, most of the Spurs' stars and veterans made either a cameo appearance or no appearance at all.
Only once this preseason have the Spurs suited up their full projected starting lineup: In the Oct. 9 victory over Olympiacos, each Spurs regular played, but only Ginobili eclipsed the 20-minute mark.
Other than that, the glimpses of the Spurs' full capabilities have been witnessed by a select few on the team's practice court.
“That's why I say I can't wait to do that in games,” Parker said. “Right now, we're just practicing. Everybody is learning the new plays, and it's looking good. I want to see what happens in the games.”
Jefferson, who has yet to log more than 19 minutes in a game and who sat out Friday's victory over Cleveland, said increased time with the core group should do him good.
He says the chemistry between the new Spurs and old Spurs — “the learners and returners,” in Popovich's parlance — is still a work in progress.
“You won't be playing your best basketball now, but that doesn't give you an excuse to start slow or anything like that,” Jefferson said. “We know the coaches are going to expect a lot from us. It's up to us to spend the necessary time to get the system down and stay focused enough to remember the things we need to.”
More than anything, Jefferson — the Spurs' likely starter at small forward — is looking forward to the opportunity to get tired.
“When you're playing six or seven minutes at a time, you don't really have your legs yet,” Jefferson said. “This next game, I'm going to be fatigued. It will be good to get out there, be fatigued, and get to fight through it.”
The final two exhibition games should also be of particular use to Ginobili, who is still working his way back into shape after spending the summer rehabilitating a stress fracture in his right leg.
He has shown signs of rust in limited minutes so far, a condition for which he knows but one remedy.
“I just need to play,” Ginobili said.
Held out of two of the Spurs' past three games, Ginobili says he would like to log one 30-minute night before the preseason ends. Whether Popovich intends on that remains to be seen.
“He's starting to get his rhythm,” Popovich said. “He looks bouncy. I'd say he's about 85 percent in shape. So he's on the right track, and he'll be ready to go when the season starts.”
^ I was about to post that bro hehehe. Good stuff keep it coming.![]()
Similar Threads |
|