San Antonio Spurs

[ManWhore]

---

^^Palpak na nga sports writer. TD should be the best PF of the decade and Shaq should be the best Center. Wonderin why he still got his job. I should fire him if i'm his boss!

[johnnyblues]

dugang training camp videos (day 3):

Mason Jr.
http://www.nba.com/spurs/multimedia/091001_mason.html

Ratliff
http://www.nba.com/spurs/multimedia/091001_ratliff.html

A Look Inside Training Camp
http://www.nba.com/spurs/multimedia/091001_camp.html

[jcatruman]

The 10 Best Centers of the last decade


10. Alonzo Mourning

9. David Robinson



8. Yao Ming

7. Amar'e Stoudemire

6. Zydrunas Ilgauskas

5. Jermaine O'Neal

4. Ben Wallace

3. Dwight Howard

2. Shaquille O'Neal

1. Tim Duncan




Source: The 10 best centers of the last decade - Ball Don't Lie - NBA - Yahoo! Sports

i dont think david should be in the last of list. this is a bust.

[mab]

SAN ANTONIO -- After four championships and a dozen grueling seasons and the first tangible first-round exit of his life, Tim Duncan has done all the calculations in his head.

There's a reason he changed his diet and shed 15 pounds even though no one suggested he should.

It's the same reason Duncan voiced no resistance when the San Antonio Spurs did ask him to surrender his preferred summertime hobbies of flinging heavy tires and running up steep hills and to instead delay offseason workouts of any sort for an extra month.

The Big Fundamental is "just trying to do something better for my body" because he has a very full and realistic grasp of what all the math means. Just as you would imagine.

"I've only got a couple years left in me," Duncan said the other day, stopping for a brief chat after the Spurs' opening practice of the season. "The history of basketball says that more than anything else.

"The window for me is closing," Duncan continued. "It's towards the end of my career, I have slowed down, all that stuff is true."

Duncan, at 33, will concur on every level as long as you give him this, too.

SPURS CAMP

How's oft-injured Manu Ginobili feeling? And what about Pop's playbook? Marc Stein has five observations from camp. Insider Insider

• Hollinger: 2009-10 Spurs Forecast Insider

"In the same respect," Duncan quickly adds, "I still think I can play pretty well.

"I still think I can help a team win."

Duncan's bosses in San Antonio wholeheartedly agree, as confirmed by owner Peter Holt's willingness to sanction a roster makeover that has taken the payroll of the home team in the nation's 37th-largest TV market all the way to $81.7 million at present. That figure will come down slightly by opening night when the roster is pared to 14 or 15, but even so the Spurs will still sit more than $10 million above the NBA's $69.9 million luxury-tax threshold.

The organization's unspoken fantasy used to be stockpiling as much salary-cap space as possible for the ballyhooed summer of 2010 to chase Toronto Raptors big man Chris Bosh. As a Texan -- and a lefty like David Robinson -- Bosh seemed an ideal target to pair with Duncan in his twilight years, theoretically reprising the old twin towers effect in San Antonio, with Duncan cast in the Robinson role this time.

Yet waiting for July 2010 -- and waiting on a total free-agent maybe with no guarantee of actually landing Bosh -- likely meant grinding through one more excruciating season like last season. That's when Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker appeared in only 41 games together and when the Dallas Mavericks drubbed the Manu-less Spurs in Round 1 in five games. San Antonio's only other first-round loss in the Duncan era carries a Texas-sized asterisk because Duncan didn't play at all in that series against the Phoenix Suns in 2000, forced into street clothes by a knee injury.

The Spurs' brain trust of coach Gregg Popovich, front-office chief R.C. Buford and Holt decided it didn't want to burn Duncan's 13th season in that sort of holding pattern/torture chamber, especially with no promise of a payoff with the resulting cap space. Popovich, Buford and Holt likewise still believe that Duncan has enough of his prime left to be the centerpiece of a championship team, with the caveat that Duncan needs a little more help than he used to.

So they elected not to wait. A few days before scoring DeJuan Blair with the 37th overall pick in what immediately was trumpeted as the steal of the draft, San Antonio traded three expiring contracts to Milwaukee -- Fabricio Oberto, Kurt Thomas and defensive mainstay Bruce Bowen -- for the right to inherit the final two years and nearly $30 million left on Richard Jefferson's contract. The Spurs then extended two guaranteed years at $9.4 million and a partially guaranteed third year to free-agent forward Antonio McDyess, who just turned 35.

"Guys like me, Timmy and Manu," Parker said on media day, owe Holt a hearty "thank you."

[+] EnlargeDeJuan Blair
AP Photo/Laura RauchRookie DeJuan Blair is one of the frontcourt players the Spurs added to give Tim Duncan some help.

The only way the Spurs can be a 2010 player now would be for them to part company with free agent-to-be Ginobili at season's end and for Jefferson to opt out of the final year of his contract worth a tidy $15 million. You can safely expect neither to happen, but San Antonio's elite status could well be restored if -- and we realize this is a pretty healthy-sized if in itself -- Duncan, Ginobili and Parker can stay on the floor.

It has to be somewhat disconcerting that both Duncan and Jefferson, when asked on media day to pinpoint their goals for the season, had the same cautious reply: "Stay healthy." But let's assume, just for fun, that these Spurs do avoid significant injuries. What then?

In Jefferson, they will have the fourth option offensively that Popovich has coveted for years, enabling Pop to ask that much less of Duncan, Parker and Ginobili in the regular season.

In McDyess, they will have Duncan's most capable frontcourt sidekick since Robinson retired after San Antonio's title in 2003 … with highly touted Brazilian power forward Tiago Splitter perhaps finally ready to leave Europe and join the Spurs for the 2010-11 season.

Factor in Roger Mason, Michael Finley, George Hill, Theo Ratliff, Matt Bonner, Keith Bogans, and maybe even Blair, and you're looking at what might be the most useful supporting cast Duncan has ever had.

Which is why New York Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni, well acquainted with Duncan's Spurs at their best from his days in Phoenix, proclaimed to the San Antonio Express-News that the Spurs are "right back where they were a couple years ago" after the team's busy summer.

"I feel great about it," Duncan said of what he describes as "basically a total overhaul."

Asked whether he thinks that overhaul has restored the Spurs to the same ZIP code as the defending champions from Los Angeles, Duncan said: "I hope so, I hope so. It remains to be seen, obviously, how the pieces fit. It's all on paper now. You can put all these pieces together. Unless they fit, it doesn't matter. But if we can put all those things together and we can be healthy at the right time, I see no reason why we shouldn't be excited about it."

The state of Duncan's physique, for starters, has attendees at Spurs camp pretty revved up about what the new season might hold. By changing his diet and returning to the swimming pool with the frequency he did as a kid, Duncan dropped those 15 pounds to get down into the 240-pound ballpark and looks skinnier than anyone can remember.

"Just trying to change my body a little bit, take some stress off my knees," Duncan said. "I've got a lot of miles on me … and I thought losing a little bit of weight would be better for the knees and for the body throughout the year."

Sounds like a wise idea, given how Duncan's knees steadily deteriorated last season after he flashed some early MVP form. But there's even more to it, according to fellow vet Finley.

“

Finley It's not about coasting into retirement. He's still about being one of the best players in the league.
” -- Spurs forward Michael Finley on Duncan

"You know how Tim is," Finley told local reporters after practice Wednesday. "Tim is a guy who leads by example. He's not going to broadcast it. He's just going to go in and do his job and come back and you see the results. "It shows me and his teammates that he's taking this seriously. It's not about coasting into retirement. He's still about being one of the best players in the league."

Truth is, Duncan was still quite a force against Dallas on his two sore knees, averaging 19.8 points and 8.0 rebounds for the series. It was mostly on defense that you really noticed his hampered mobility, after Duncan's many years as a top-shelf rim protector with the savvy and sufficient speed to harass the likes of Steve Nash on pick-and-rolls, too.

Duncan has two seasons left on his contract after this season and plays a position that should allow him to stay in the game for well beyond the aforementioned "couple years" if he chooses.

The louder questions are thus being thrown at Ginobili, after issues with both ankles sidelined the game's most feared sixth man for 38 regular-season games, ruled him out of the playoffs and necessitated offseason surgery.

The louder dissent is coming from Ginobili, as well. The 32-year-old, entering a critical contract year, rejects the premise that the Spurs' core trio is no longer sturdy enough to benefit from the considerable upgrades to the rest of the roster.

"I think it's a little unfair," Ginobili said. "Tim and I both went through a lot of injuries last year. … If it continues for two more years, then, OK, it's fair to say. But I think we deserve to get another chance."


While Tim Duncan is still a standout, the San Antonio Spurs appear to be going for broke - ESPN

[menderouv]

Spurs Team Report
Yahoo! Sports
Oct 2, 5:50 am EDT

Buzz up! 53 Print
GETTING INSIDE

Tony Parker(notes), Manu Ginobili(notes) and Tim Duncan(notes) returned to training camp as they always do, but this time there was something definitely different—many of their teammates.


Eight of the 18 players at Spurs training camp are new. Many of them will stick. Richard Jefferson(notes), Antonio McDyess(notes), Theo Ratliff(notes), DeJuan Blair(notes) and most recent acquisition Keith Bogans(notes) are the reasons, when added to the Big Three, why the Spurs believe they are again championship contenders.


To make room, the Spurs let go of aging role players, including San Antonio fan favorite and defensive stalwart Bruce Bowen(notes).


“I think it’s important at a certain point to realize that it’s time to turn,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “We felt like that for a couple years and slowly moved toward it, knowing full well at some point we had to change. And last year was our last attempt with that group.”


Injuries to Duncan and Ginobili ruined the Spurs’ hopes last season. They were run over by the Dallas Mavericks in the first round.


With the addition of Jefferson, who played against the Spurs in the Finals with the New Jersey Nets, San Antonio has added a prolific outside scorer.

McDyess, Ratliff and Blair, a rookie out of Pittsburgh, provide the interior bulk the team was missing a season ago.


NOTES, QUOTES

• With a number of new players joining the team, coach Gregg Popovich decided to shrink his playbook, notoriously one of the fattest in the league. Popovich said he realizes players tend to do better in their second year than in the first, but the Spurs’ championship hopes can’t wait until then.


• Prior to opening training camp, the Spurs signed 6-foot-5 guard Keith Bogans, who split last season between the Orlando Magic and Milwaukee Bucks. He was traded from the Magic to Bucks for Tyronn Lue(notes).


Quote To Note: “You don’t understand. I grew up in Phoenix and Southern California, so Mexican is my favorite food. Gosh, there are so many. It could be carne asada burritos. It could be steak enchiladas. Refried beans.—Richard Jefferson, on his favorite Mexican dish since moving to San Antonio.


ROSTER REPORT

Player News:


• F Richard Jefferson said the dislocated right thumb he suffered in September while playing in a pickup game is a “non-factor.” He participated in all facets of the Spurs’ first day of training camp.


“My thumb is fine,” Jefferson told the San Antonio Express-News. “That (injury) was nothing. They put it in a splint and told me to rest it for a week. I’m not going to miss anything.”


Jefferson said he wanted to get on the court quickly to start picking up the Spurs’ offensive and defensive systems.


• G Tony Parker spent a good chunk of the offseason playing for the French national team, helping it to qualify for next summer’s FIBA World Championships. He also suffered a mild ankle injury that resulted in some mild irritation between Parker and the club.


With everything smoothed over, Parker will take the first two weeks of training camp lightly, spending much of his time with shooting coach Chip Engelland and strength and conditioning coach Mike Brungardt.


Spurs coach Gregg Popovich wants Parker to limit his time on the court while concentrating his body for the long grind of the NBA season.


• F Tim Duncan declared himself healthy and ready for the season. He showed up to the start of training camp 15 pounds leaner and saying that the knee problems that hobbled him for much of last season aren’t an issue.


Duncan said he made changes in his offseason workouts. Instead of increasing his regimen, he lessened it. Entering his 13th season, Duncan ended some of the more extraneous exercises, such as flipping large tires, and focused more on low-impact ones like swimming.


“I’m not gearing down or playing at a different level,” Duncan said. “I’m just trying to stay healthy.”


Draft Picks:


DeJuan Blair, F, 6-7, Pitt (second round)—High-energy, tough and led the nation in offensive rebounding as a sophomore last season. Will get a chance to play with Fabricio Oberto(notes) and Kurt Thomas(notes) traded.


Jack McClinton(notes), G, 6-1, Miami (second round)—Gunner who set an ACC record by nailing 44 percent of his 3-pointers last season. Defensive skills also stood out in workouts for San Antonio.


Nando De Colo(notes), G, 6-5, France (second round)—One of Tony Parker’s countrymen, the 21-year-old guard is playing in the French A-League. He’ll likely remain overseas.

[manuginobili]

hapit na mg.sugod ang season!!!...woho0...cant wait 2 c manu!!...

[johnnyblues]

si manu ang pinaka maayo na player sa training camp nila karon. maoni nanggawas na reports karon. murag naayo na gyud siya.

[manuginobili]

di xa magpa.maau mawa jd xa sa rotation...hahahaha...na.laming gud 2 xa ug basketball gud..mao na nga hangol na xa karon..wo0ho0!!...GO SPURS GO!!!...

[owNinZ]

Duncan: 'The Window For Me is Closing'

SAN ANTONIO -- After four championships and a dozen grueling seasons and the first tangible first-round exit of his life, Tim Duncan has done all the calculations in his head.

There's a reason he changed his diet and shed 15 pounds even though no one suggested he should.

It's the same reason Duncan voiced no resistance when the San Antonio Spurs did ask him to surrender his preferred summertime hobbies of flinging heavy tires and running up steep hills and to instead delay offseason workouts of any sort for an extra month.

The Big Fundamental is "just trying to do something better for my body" because he has a very full and realistic grasp of what all the math means. Just as you would imagine.

"I've only got a couple years left in me," Duncan said the other day, stopping for a brief chat after the Spurs' opening practice of the season.

"The history of basketball says that more than anything else.

"The window for me is closing," Duncan continued. "It's towards the end of my career, I have slowed down, all that stuff is true."
Duncan, at 33, will concur on every level as long as you give him this, too.

"In the same respect," Duncan quickly adds, "I still think I can play pretty well.

"I still think I can help a team win."

Duncan's bosses in San Antonio wholeheartedly agree, as confirmed by owner Peter Holt's willingness to sanction a roster makeover that has taken the payroll of the home team in the nation's 37th-largest TV market all the way to $81.7 million at present. That figure will come down slightly by opening night when the roster is pared to 14 or 15, but even so the Spurs will still sit more than $10 million above the NBA's $69.9 million luxury-tax threshold.

The organization's unspoken fantasy used to be stockpiling as much salary-cap space as possible for the ballyhooed summer of 2010 to chase Toronto Raptors big man Chris Bosh. As a Texan -- and a lefty like David Robinson -- Bosh seemed an ideal target to pair with Duncan in his twilight years, theoretically reprising the old twin towers effect in San Antonio, with Duncan cast in the Robinson role this time.

Yet waiting for July 2010 -- and waiting on a total free-agent maybe with no guarantee of actually landing Bosh -- likely meant grinding through one more excruciating season like last season. That's when Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker appeared in only 41 games together and when the Dallas Mavericks drubbed the Manu-less Spurs in Round 1 in five games. San Antonio's only other first-round loss in the Duncan era carries a Texas-sized asterisk because Duncan didn't play at all in that series against the Phoenix Suns in 2000, forced into street clothes by a knee injury.

The Spurs' brain trust of coach Gregg Popovich, front-office chief R.C. Buford and Holt decided it didn't want to burn Duncan's 13th season in that sort of holding pattern/torture chamber, especially with no promise of a payoff with the resulting cap space. Popovich, Buford and Holt likewise still believe that Duncan has enough of his prime left to be the centerpiece of a championship team, with the caveat that Duncan needs a little more help than he used to.

So they elected not to wait. A few days before scoring DeJuan Blair with the 37th overall pick in what immediately was trumpeted as the steal of the draft, San Antonio traded three expiring contracts to Milwaukee -- Fabricio Oberto, Kurt Thomas and defensive mainstay Bruce Bowen -- for the right to inherit the final two years and nearly $30 million left on Richard Jefferson's contract. The Spurs then extended two guaranteed years at $9.4 million and a partially guaranteed third year to free-agent forward Antonio McDyess, who just turned 35.

"Guys like me, Timmy and Manu," Parker said on media day, owe Holt a hearty "thank you..

The only way the Spurs can be a 2010 player now would be for them to part company with free agent-to-be Ginobili at season's end and for Jefferson to opt out of the final year of his contract worth a tidy $15 million. You can safely expect neither to happen, but San Antonio's elite status could well be restored if -- and we realize this is a pretty healthy-sized if in itself -- Duncan, Ginobili and Parker can stay on the floor.
It has to be somewhat disconcerting that both Duncan and Jefferson, when asked on media day to pinpoint their goals for the season, had the same cautious reply: "Stay healthy." But let's assume, just for fun, that these Spurs do avoid significant injuries. What then?

In Jefferson, they will have the fourth option offensively that Popovich has coveted for years, enabling Pop to ask that much less of Duncan, Parker and Ginobili in the regular season.

In McDyess, they will have Duncan's most capable frontcourt sidekick since Robinson retired after San Antonio's title in 2003 … with highly touted Brazilian power forward Tiago Splitter perhaps finally ready to leave Europe and join the Spurs for the 2010-11 season.

Factor in Roger Mason, Michael Finley, George Hill, Theo Ratliff, Matt Bonner, Keith Bogans, and maybe even Blair, and you're looking at what might be the most useful supporting cast Duncan has ever had.

Which is why New York Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni, well acquainted with Duncan's Spurs at their best from his days in Phoenix, proclaimed to the San Antonio Express-News that the Spurs are "right back where they were a couple years ago" after the team's busy summer.

"I feel great about it," Duncan said of what he describes as "basically a total overhaul."

Asked whether he thinks that overhaul has restored the Spurs to the same ZIP code as the defending champions from Los Angeles, Duncan said: "I hope so, I hope so. It remains to be seen, obviously, how the pieces fit. It's all on paper now. You can put all these pieces together. Unless they fit, it doesn't matter. But if we can put all those things together and we can be healthy at the right time, I see no reason why we shouldn't be excited about it."

The state of Duncan's physique, for starters, has attendees at Spurs camp pretty revved up about what the new season might hold. By changing his diet and returning to the swimming pool with the frequency he did as a kid, Duncan dropped those 15 pounds to get down into the 240-pound ballpark and looks skinnier than anyone can remember.

"Just trying to change my body a little bit, take some stress off my knees," Duncan said. "I've got a lot of miles on me … and I thought losing a little bit of weight would be better for the knees and for the body throughout the year."

Sounds like a wise idea, given how Duncan's knees steadily deteriorated last season after he flashed some early MVP form. But there's even more to it, according to fellow vet Finley.

"You know how Tim is," Finley told local reporters after practice Wednesday. "Tim is a guy who leads by example. He's not going to broadcast it. He's just going to go in and do his job and come back and you see the results. "It shows me and his teammates that he's taking this seriously. It's not about coasting into retirement. He's still about being one of the best players in the league."

Truth is, Duncan was still quite a force against Dallas on his two sore knees, averaging 19.8 points and 8.0 rebounds for the series. It was mostly on defense that you really noticed his hampered mobility, after Duncan's many years as a top-shelf rim protector with the savvy and sufficient speed to harass the likes of Steve Nash on pick-and-rolls, too.

Duncan has two seasons left on his contract after this season and plays a position that should allow him to stay in the game for well beyond the aforementioned "couple years" if he chooses.

The louder questions are thus being thrown at Ginobili, after issues with both ankles sidelined the game's most feared sixth man for 38 regular-season games, ruled him out of the playoffs and necessitated offseason surgery.

The louder dissent is coming from Ginobili, as well. The 32-year-old, entering a critical contract year, rejects the premise that the Spurs' core trio is no longer sturdy enough to benefit from the considerable upgrades to the rest of the roster.

"I think it's a little unfair," Ginobili said. "Tim and I both went through a lot of injuries last year. … If it continues for two more years, then, OK, it's fair to say. But I think we deserve to get another chance."

Source: While Tim Duncan is still a standout, the San Antonio Spurs appear to be going for broke - ESPN

[owNinZ]

Ratliff's Shot-Blocking Promising to Spurs

The path to the basket was clear, or so Marcus Haislip thought. He took one dribble, then two, then lifted off to attempt the sort of teeth-chattering dunks that had made him a YouTube mainstay during his 31/2 seasons in Europe.

A funny thing happened on Haislip's way to the basket during a recent Spurs intrasquad scrimmage.

“Somebody came out of nowhere,” Haislip said, “and blocked it.”

It took Haislip a few moments to figure out who that somebody was. In retrospect, he probably could have guessed.

“That's been my calling card my whole career,” Theo Ratliff said.

Ratliff, a 6-foot-10 reserve center and former NBA shot-blocking champion, was an under-the-radar acquisition for the Spurs this offseason. Certainly, he was not as fawned-over as fellow newcomers Richard Jefferson, Antonio McDyess and DeJuan Blair.

Yet if Ratliff has just a few more blocked shots left in his 36-year-old hands, he will have earned every cent the Spurs spent to get him here. The 14-year veteran is poised to bring to San Antonio something the Spurs haven't had since David Robinson last hung up his Nikes: another intimidating rim defender to complement Tim Duncan.

Less than a week into training camp, Ratliff has already made his presence felt — and not just by Haislip.

“He makes you change the way you shoot,” Manu Ginobili said. “We haven't had that in the last few years, ever since 5-0 (Robinson) left. It's good to have a shot-blocker like that.”

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich hopes Ratliff's come-from-nowhere block on Haislip is a sign of things to come. The Spurs were the league's fourth-worst shot-blocking team last season, averaging four per game.

“It was nice to see,” Popovich said. “Timmy needs somebody else to be doing that. He can't be the only guy doing it all the time.”

The additions of Ratliff and McDyess, another respected low-post defender, were part of an offseason makeover meant to restore the Spurs to the realm of elite defensive teams.

The Spurs finished ninth in the league in field goal percentage defense last season (45.3), their lowest rank in 11 seasons under Popovich. Popovich has made it a professed goal this season to get back into the top two or three in the league.

Though not quite the player he was in his prime, Ratliff could play a significant role in getting the Spurs there.

As the Denver Nuggets proved last season, a shot blocker or two can improve a team's overall defensive outlook significantly. Almost overnight, Denver became a top-5 defensive team thanks in large measure to the shot-blocking work of Chris Andersen and Nenê.
Ratliff's eyes twinkle when told of Popovich's plan to re-emphasize defense this season.

“That's my forté,” said Ratliff, who logged 47 blocks in 46 games with Philadelphia last season. “That's been me my whole career. I know that's what I'm good at, and what they brought me here to do.”

Just in case there was any doubt, however, Ratliff showcased as much in one of his first training camp practices with the Spurs. A few days later, Haislip was still disputing the legality of Ratliff's block.

“I think it was goaltending,” Haislip said, “but Theo's a veteran, so he's going to get those calls over me.”

If Haislip was surprised to see Ratliff get to the ball, well, so was Ratliff.

After all, Haislip is one of the top athletes the Spurs have in camp this year. Ratliff is a creaky vet still in the “getting warmed up” phase of his preseason.

“I guess I've still got some hops in my legs,” Ratliff said. “I didn't know I'd be able to do that this early in camp.”

If the Spurs get their wish, it won't be the last time Ratliff surprises somebody at the rim this season.


Source: Spurs can't wait to see Ratliff at the rim