NBA

San Antonio Spurs announce Ginobili return in front office role

By Sports Desk September 24, 2021

Four-time NBA champion Manu Ginobili is returning to the San Antonio Spurs in a front office role.

On Friday, the Spurs announced Ginobili has been named Special Advisor to Basketball Operations, working in player development.

Ginobili spent 16 years playing with San Antonio, winning four NBA titles in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014 under current head coach Gregg Popovich.

San Antonio have courted two-time NBA All-Star and 2004 Olympic gold medallist Ginobili since he retired as a player in 2018.

Ginobili is the Spurs' all-time in three-pointers made (1,495) and steals (1,392), while his career winning percentage of .721 is the best in NBA history with a minimum of 1,000 games.

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  • Vogel slams Suns after 'unacceptable' loss to Spurs Vogel slams Suns after 'unacceptable' loss to Spurs

    Frank Vogel hit out at the Phoenix Suns for an "unacceptable" defeat to the San Antonio Spurs.

    San Antonio were shorn of star player Victor Wembenyama on Monday, yet ran out 104-102 winners over the Suns.

    Phoenix have now lost three of their four meetings against the Spurs this season, despite San Antonio having been rooted to the bottom of the Western Conference.

    And Vogel did not hold back in criticising his team.

    "It's just unacceptable to lose that game," Suns coach Vogel said.

    "For our guys, we all said the right things. We all did the right preparation. But we didn't play with the necessary focus in this position throughout, I would say, the first half."

    Bradley Beal added: "It's disappointment.

    "We came in here and laid an egg. We thought it was going to be easy with no Wemby. Just got our a** kicked.

    "They came out aggressive, just like the coach told us they would, and we didn't respond. Well, we did, but we didn't withstand their punches."

    Devin Booker says the Suns knew what to expect of the Spurs, but just did not deliver.

    "I'm not into disrespecting our opponents," Booker said.

    "These guys are NBA guys. There are some talented young players over there. We weren't unprepared. We knew what to expect."

    Jeremy Sochan and Devin Vassell both finished with 26 points for the Spurs.

    "I was confident," Sochan said.

    "Even at the start, I was asking for the ball, I had my hands up. I felt like a couple of the last games the ball hasn't going in for me from the 3-point line. But no matter what, I believe in myself."

    The Suns sit eighth in the West, but are about to embark on what ESPN class as the toughest end to the season in the NBA, but Vogel dismissed those concerns.

    "We like our chances against anybody. We don't worry about the schedule," he said.

  • NBA: Pelicans top Clippers in key West clash NBA: Pelicans top Clippers in key West clash

    Zion Williamson scored 34 points to lead the New Orleans Pelicans to a 112-104 win over the slumping Los Angeles Clippers on Friday that tightened the race for the Western Conference's No. 4 seed.

    The surging Pelicans moved within two games of Los Angeles for fourth place in the conference and improved to 14-5 since Jan. 31, tied with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets for the best record in the West over that span. 

    Los Angeles was dealt a third loss in four games despite 26 points from Paul George and 23 from Kawhi Leonard. The Clippers played a second straight game without starting point guard James Harden due to a left shoulder strain.

    Williamson recorded 16 of his points during a dominant third quarter in which he went 7 of 7 from the field. The star forward closed out the period with a layup that snapped an 80-80 tie and ignited a 12-3 run that put the Pelicans ahead for good.

    Trey Murphy and Naji Marshall each had 3-pointers during the spurt, which Murphy capped with an alley-oop dunk that gave New Orleans a 92-83 lead with 10:24 remaining.

    Leonard's hook shot with two minutes left brought the Clippers within 107-102, but Los Angeles came up empty on its next three possessions as New Orleans scored the next five points to put the game out of reach. 

    The Clippers trailed by 11 points early in the third quarter before putting together a 12-3 run that trimmed the Pelicans' lead to 65-63 with five minutes left in the period.

    Heat handle Pistons to end four-game skid

    Bam Adebayo recorded 22 points and nine rebounds to help the Miami Heat end a four-game losing streak with a 108-95 win over the lowly Detroit Pistons.

    Terry Rozier scored 10 of his 18 points in the second half as Miami pulled away in the final two quarters to get back on track and remain 2 1/2 games behind first-place Orlando in the Southeast Division. The Magic also won on Friday, earning a 113-103 victory over the Toronto Raptors.

    After Adebayo's floater in the closing seconds gave Miami a 56-54 lead at the half, the Heat dominated the final six minutes of the third quarter to stretch their advantage.

    Miami broke things open with a 15-0 run, which began with six straight points from Rozier and ended with three consecutive 3-pointers by Duncan Robinson. The last of those baskets increased the margin to 83-65 with 2:29 to go in the third quarter.

    The Heat maintained a double-digit cushion over the entire fourth quarter to end Detroit's modest two-game winning streak.

    Simone Fontecchio led the Pistons, who own the NBA's second-worst record at 12-54, with 24 points. Jalen Duren compiled 15 points and 17 rebounds in the loss.

    Jokic outduels Wembanyama, Nuggets top Spurs to stay hot

    Nikola Jokić put up 31 points as the Denver Nuggets continued their strong recent stretch with a 117-106 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in a game played in the Texas capital of Austin.

    Jokic finished 13 of 19 from the field while adding seven rebounds and five assists to outshine Spurs rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama, who was held to 17 points on 4-of-12 shooting.

    Jamal Murray accumulated 15 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists to help Denver improve to 11-1 since the All-Star break. The defending NBA champions have won five straight games.

    Jokic and the Nuggets imposed their will early on, as Denver closed out the first quarter on an 18-4 run to take a commanding 37-18 lead into the second. The two-time NBA MVP finished the period with 15 points.

    The Spurs shot 60 per cent in the second quarter to close the gap to 58-49 at half-time, and got Denver's lead down to four when Zach Collins' jumper with 16.7 seconds left in the third quarter made the score 83-79.

    Denver's Justin Holiday ended the third with a 3-pointer, however, and had another during a 9-1 run in the fourth that put the Nuggets up 101-84 with seven minutes to play.

    The game drew a crowd of 16,223, the largest attended sporting event in the history of Austin's Moody Center.

     

     

  • 'Getting dunked on is nothing' – Wembanyama shrugs off Jackson-Davis' dunk 'Getting dunked on is nothing' – Wembanyama shrugs off Jackson-Davis' dunk

    San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama shrugged off Trayce Jackson-Davis' dunk after the Golden State Warriors ran out winners on Monday.

    Jackson-Davis got the better of Wembanyama with just over a minute left of the fourth quarter, spinning the NBA draft's number one overall pick before finishing in style.

    Wembanyama was left tumbling to the deck, and the Warriors went on to win 112-102.

    But Wembanyama, who missed the Spurs' win over the Warriors at the weekend due to an ankle problem, is not overly concerned.

    "Getting dunked on is nothing. It's part of the game," said the French youngster, fresh from finishing with 27 points and 14 rebounds.

    "I dunk on a lot of people and a lot of people dunk on me too. But I think I block more often than I get dunked on, so that's positive."

    Reflecting on the Spurs' performance, Wembanyama added: "Consistency is always [important], but today I think it's also responding to the physicality that they put [out]. We didn’t have a strong enough response."

    Explaining his thought process behind the dunk, Warriors rookie Jackson-Davis said: "I saw that he overplayed it, and he overplayed it to my right.

    "I'm left-handed. So, I think I spun or got to my left hand and then I had to step on him. I just tried him.

    "I told Kevon [Looney] before the game that if I got the chance to try him, I would. At the end of the day, sometimes you dunk on people, sometimes you get dunked on. It's just a basketball play."

    Monday's win saw the Warriors, who were without Stephen Curry, bounce back from back-to-back losses, with Golden State limiting the Spurs to just one point in the final stages of the fourth quarter.

    "We weren't doing anything differently, just the effort and the connection," said coach Steve Kerr.

    "If one guy is out of place and everybody's giving great effort, it still results in two points. I just felt we were better connected in the second half and as that went, we picked up some momentum."

    Jonathan Kuminga led the Warriors with 22 points, with Klay Thompson adding 21, to go with a contribution of 19 from Chris Paul.

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