Spurs Link-And-Roll – 5.27.12

Anonymous assistant coach: “The things they may not be good at when they get there are what they’ll spend a great deal of time working on. That’s why (rookie small forward) Kawhi Leonard has become deadly on the corner 3 and Danny Green went from nowhere in the league to starter on a team that might win a championship.”

Roy Blount Jr. of Sports Illustrated: “But when you pull for OTTs, you watch the game in a whole new way. Whereas triple doubles accrue, OTTs tend to come undone, like baseball no-hitters—but unlike no-hitters they can come back, and they can sneak up on you. Take the second Spurs-Clippers rumble. First quarter, Manu Ginóbili (one OTT lifetime) is 2 for 2, both threes, so in OTT terms he’s 3 for 2. But then a blocked three brings him down to full-but-not-overflowing. He puts up another three. If it’s in, he’s 4.5 for 4—but no. Soon Ginóbili’s OTT is irretrievable. And Chris Paul’s hip flexor hurts, Nick Young’s wisdom teeth are impacted, Blake Griffin is giving us put-upon-Golden-Boy looks, and—wait a minute. Fourth quarter, 2:57 to go, and San Antonio forward Boris Diaw! Has! Got! An OTT going! Don’t shoot, Boris! Take him out, Pop! Whew! It’s over! Diaw—7 for 7, two threes, or 8 for 7! O!T!T!”

The Orlando Magic are interested in Spurs’ assistant general manager Dennis Lindsey.

CapHill of Pounding the Rock: “IndiManu Jones traipses through the NBA playoff jungle in the search of that elusive golden idol, the trophy of LarRé Ob-Rhine . His journey has been fraught with peril, having already escaped the giant rolling Clipper ship. Will his frantic grab for the trophy end with success? Alas, who does he find upon his exit from the Temple of the Basketball Warriors but his dreaded nemesis, Westloq! Laughing maniacally, the Thunderous point guard uses his team’s superior firepower to make his own power grab for the golden trophy.”

Danny Green: “I was at a point where I didn’t know if I was going to get back in the league,” Green said. “Sometimes, I think about where I was just a year ago, and how different it is for me now.”

Stephen Jackson: “Can’t sleep. Ready to play sunday.”

Anthony Macri of ESPN.com (Insider): “The San Antonio Spurs are, in a word, rolling. Winners of 29 of their last 31 games (and 18 in a row), including playoffs, the Spurs look as dominant as any team in the past decade. After dispatching the Utah Jazz in four games, they took out the Los Angeles Clippers in convincing fashion, defeating their two playoff opponents by an average of 13.8 points per game. Second in the league during the regular season in points scored, their offense was the most efficient, while their defensive efficiency was in the top third of the league. The three-headed monster of Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili are the core of the team, but the real story is in their reserves, where the Spurs are a legitimate 12 deep, with seven of their top 10 achieving a PER over the league average during the playoffs.”

Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman: “It’s a series that will showcase two of the game’s greats in Durant and Duncan. Every coach wants a player like them. Every general manager would sleep better if the keys to their franchises were in the hands of players with their personalities. What makes Duncan and Durant unique is their rare combination of blue collar hard work and down-home humility. Awards and accolades are not the goal for either. Neither are endorsement deals nor brand recognition.”

Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News: “The planet did not tilt off its axis the day Spurs coach Gregg Popovich walked into the team’s practice gym and announced post-ups to Tim Duncan would no longer be the centerpiece of his offense. Frogs did not come raining from the sky over the Alamo City at the sound of such blasphemy. The San Antonio River did not run red with blood.”

Tim Duncan “might be playing best all-around basketball of his career.”

Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News: “You would need a hypodermic needle filled with truth serum to get Thunder general manager Sam Presti to reveal which player was No. 1 on his draft board on June 28, 2007. On the job for just three weeks as general manager of the Seattle SuperSonics on that franchise-turning draft night, Presti had the No. 2 pick in a class with two potential Hall of Famers: Texas forward Kevin Durant and Ohio State center Greg Oden.”

Gary Neal: “Hope I can sleep tonight REALLY EXCITED about GAME 1!!!”

Royce Young of Daily Thunder: “You know in The Matrix when Neo finally realizes he’s The One? Agent Smith has kicked his butt the whole movie but finally, he gets whatever it is he needs to get, starts seeing in binary code or whatever and wins the fight. He was always good, but for whatever reason, it all clicked for him there.”

Oklahoma City has a leg up on the unofficial T-shirt war.