Hornets @ Spurs 5/03

Du nouveau , pas de blessé Mc diess et Bogans sont apte pour vendredi et malik hairston est rappelé après des bons matchs avec les toros .

Une petite victoire avec la confiance qui revient .



http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/86092987.html

Putting together their first winning streak in two weeks worked wonders on the Spurs' collective psyche.

The jocularity in the locker room after a convincing 106-92 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Monday night was infectious.

Most of the banter, and laughter, centered around second-year guard George Hill's stated insistence his teammates abandon future plans to locate in the corners on the offensive end, where Hill had made three more 3-point shots to record his sixth team-leading point total in the last 13 games.

Hill worked hard all summer, much of it spent with Spurs shooting coach Chip Engelland, refining his 3-point shooting stroke. Most comfortable launching long-distance shots from the corners, where the arc diminishes from 23 feet, 9 inches to 22 feet, 6 inches, Hill has made 54 of 110 on 3-pointers this season. His 38.2 percentage is second on the Spurs only to Matt Bonner's 39.2 percent.

Chiding forward Richard Jefferson for invading his corner space, Hill found himself at odds with Tim Duncan, who defended Jefferson's invasion.

Hill stalked to his locker in mock indignation, then burst out laughing.

“I tried to tell them: ‘Get out of my corner,'” he said. “That's something I've worked on all year long, and because I worked on it all year long, if I've got a chance to get to the corner, like Coach Pop said, I've got to get them out of it, because that's my corner. They're not paying me rent, so they need to get out.”

In truth, Hill's teammates have begun to look for him in the corners, and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has drawn up a few plays for Hill's corner threes out of timeouts.

“I'm just having some fun with the guys,” Hill said after his back-and-forth with Jefferson and Duncan, “and we're going to keep on having fun and try to win some basketball games here.”

The Spurs made 50.6 percent of their shots against the Hornets, making more than they missed for a second consecutive game.

“That's been a real weakness this year, and it's cost us a lot of games,” Popovich said. “It was nice to see us knock down some shots again tonight.”

As for Hill, Popovich said his improvement from beyond the 3-point arc is but one aspect of what he calls the greatest improvement, from one season to the next, of any player he has had.

“He's been good for us at both ends of the court in his sophomore year,” he said. “We're not surprised when he makes shots or does what he did (against the Hornets).”

Walking Willises: When Antonio McDyess had to be helped off the AT&T Center court Sunday after hyperextending his left knee, then walked back into the arena and back into the game, Popovich referred to him as “Willis,” a reference to Hall of Famer Willis Reed's dramatic entrance into Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals for the victorious New York Knicks.



On Monday, it was Spurs guard Keith Bogans with a Willis Reed moment.

Writhing in pain, Bogans left the floor in the third quarter after dislocating the ring finger on his left hand. He returned to the Spurs' bench in the fourth quarter, the finger having been manipulated back into its proper position and taped to the middle finger.

He returned to the game and made his lone basket in the fourth quarter.

McDyess tested his sore left knee before Monday's game and opted to sit out when he felt discomfort running.

McDyess and Bogans were re-examined by team doctors. In both cases, no structural damage was found, and both are expected to be available for Friday's game at the AT&T Center against the Hornets.

Rien de grave alors. Tant mieux, parce qu'avec notre mini roster on a pas des tonnes d'options maintenant...

Du courage Bogey !!!
Faudra attacquer Stojakovic le plus possible.
Spurs vont gagner. Faut gagner!!!

Pour info, le match est à 3h30 heure française, et il se joue à l'AT&T Center.
Pas de raison de perdre, on maîtrise les Hornets cette année. Il faut être sérieux. J'aimerais bien voir Manu et Jefferson faire de gros matches, pour confirmer.

Sweep les Hornets!!!

Bah voilà, les Hornets sont sweepés. 2008 semble très, très loin.
La victoire est convaincante, quoique encore pas parfaite, notamment en constance et en intensité.

Il faut noter le partage de la marque, avec 7 joueurs à au moins 10 points, et notamment TP qui fait un bon match (20 points, 6 passes), et Bogans qui fait le match de sa vie (15 points, 4/6 à 3-pts et 2 contres, avec quelques bonnes actions défensives).

Par contre, Jefferson a commencé par attaquer le cercle sans succès, et il a fini par se rabattre sur ses shoots longue distance pour finir avec 3 petits points. Il avait pris 2 rebonds en début de partie, et puis ç'a été le calme plat pour le reste de la rencontre.
Encore un électrochoc, RJ ?

Bonne victoire quand même , mais à confirmer .
Gino semble avoir retrouver un bon niveau .
Ca fait plaisir .
RJ doit confirmer ...
C'est 2 victoires contre NO permettent d'écarter provisoirement un concurent potentiel .

série en cours .

Parker, Spurs stop Hornets
Mike Monroe

Since the Spurs won their first NBA championship in 1999, every subsequent season has included a winning streak of at least six games.

This season's benchmark for sustained success remains two five-game winning streaks, so before their Friday night game against the New Orleans Hornets at the AT&T Center produced a 102-91 victory, their goal had been simple and modest: Stretch a two-game winning streak to three to match their third-longest streak of the season.

“We've won two in a row,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said before tipoff, “and this season that seems to be an accomplishment, in a way.”

It wasn't easy, but the Spurs got their second victory over the Hornets this week to put themselves 11 games over .500 for the second time this season, at 35-24. They remain in seventh place in the Western Conference.

Point guard Tony Parker made 8 of 12 shots and scored 20 points to lead the Spurs, and six of his teammates joined him in double figures. That included Keith Bogans, the defensive standout, who made 4 of 6 from 3-point range and finished with a season-high 15 points. It was Bogans' first game in double figures since Feb. 3, when he had 12 in a road victory at Sacramento.

“I get up a lot of shots in practice, and when I made my first couple, my teammates did a good job of finding me when I was open,” Bogans said.

He also did yeoman defensive work on the Hornets' veteran shooter, Peja Stojakovic, holding him to 1-for-10 shooting.

“The best way to stop him is not to let him catch it,” Bogans said. “My thing is, make him work before he gets the ball, and when he catches it he'll be too tired to make the shot.”

DeJuan Blair started again as Antonio McDyess suited up but remained on the bench and off the left knee he hyperextended in Sunday's victory over the Suns. The rookie from Pittsburgh had a game-high 12 rebounds and 10 points.

New Orleans' super-sub rookie point guard, Darren Collison, led all scorers with 32 points, but the Hornets lost their other standout rookie, Marcus Thornton. He hit the court hard after fouling Parker on a drive to the basket in the fourth quarter and went to the locker room with 7:41 left, diagnosed with an upper back strain.

Four more Spurs scored in double figures: Tim Duncan (12), George Hill (14), Manu Ginobili (16) and Matt Bonner (12).

The Spurs exceeded 50 percent shooting for the third straight game, making 38-of-71 shots for 53.5 percent.

They needed the accuracy, as the Hornets refused to go easily. New Orleans sliced the Spurs' lead to five with 10:20 left before a Ginobili 3-pointer started a 9-3 run that gave the Spurs the cushion they needed.

“We'll see if we can keep our rhythm going,” Popovich said. “It's real important this time of year to try to do that. It will build our confidence and build some consistency.”

Uncanny consistency from the 3-point line in the first half staked the Spurs to a 54-45 halftime lead. With Hill making 3 of 4 from beyond the arc, the Spurs made 8 of 11 from long range and led by as many as 12 over a Hornets team that has lost seven of eight games and fallen below .500 for the season, its playoff hopes fading.

After the game the Spurs hurried through their postgame showers and headed to San Antonio International Airport and a charter flight to Memphis, where they meet the playoff-hungry Grizzlies tonight on a quick turnaround. Their estimated arrival at their Memphis hotel: around 3 in the morning.

They benefited from a fatigue factor on Monday, when it was the Hornets who had gotten to their beds in the very early hours after playing in the late ESPN game on Sunday night, followed by a flight home from Dallas.

The Spurs didn't feel sorry for the Hornets then, and they don't expect any sympathy now.