Pounding The Rock 2 hours ago
The time Tim Duncan told Coach Pop “Enough”
Pop is known to be effectively hard on his players, but at least one time Timmy stepped in for a teammate. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Tony Parker has opened up about his life more than any other San Antonio Spurs great since retiring, with the recent release of his documentary “The Final Shot” on Netflix, to his autobiography Beyond All My Dreams last year. In one excerpt from his book, he discusses the time Tim Duncan — who hardly talked to Tony his rookie season and once doubted his teammate’s ability to lead them to a championship — came to his defense when he felt...
Pounding The Rock 3 hours ago
Why Keldon Johnson shines the brightest in the Spurs’ youth movement
David Berding-USA TODAY Sports The fearless NBA sophmore could have the tools to be San Antonio’s next All Star. Keldon Johnson might as well face the snarling Monstars of Space Jam, because he appears most comfortable when smashing into the NBA’s biggest men at the rim. The 21-year-old specifically loves colliding into their chest like a tire that has been careening downhill for 72 uninterrupted hours. Sometimes, he finishes with points. Other times, he only succeeds in sowing chaos. Either way, Johnson makes a beeline to the hoop, no matter the size and strength...
Pounding The Rock 7 hours ago
What We Learned from the Spurs win over the Trail Blazers
Photo by Abbie Parr/ Enjoy the unknown while we still can. This was a pretty routine win. The Blazers were missing a multiple key players, the Spurs were at full strength (aside from Derrick White’s absence), and that’s pretty much it. The math adds up. Now, as we saw against Houston last Thursday, the math can very easily be thrown out the window on any given night because math is not to be trusted, but yesterday afternoon everything made sense in Portland. The Spurs were the better team and they played like it. What a concept! We’re creeping up on the part of...
Pounding The Rock 10 hours ago
The Spurs’ veterans led the way in a fourth quarter blitzing of the Trail Blazers
Photo by Abbie Parr/ The Spurs were all business on a federal holiday in their big win against the Trail Blazers. Most of the Spurs’ success this season has stemmed from the youngsters’ immediate impact on the court, but the veteran quartet of LaMarcus Aldridge, DeMar DeRozan, Patty Mills, and Rudy Gay propelled the good guys past the Trail Blazers in their first blowout win of the season, largely behind a 38-22 fourth quarter. Aldridge led the team with 22 points on 10 for 17 shooting, DeRozan put up a double-double with 20 points while handing out 11 assists,...
Pounding The Rock 12 hours ago
Open Thread: Spurslandia podcast airs today
Photo by Chris Covatta/ Matt Bonner introduces the newest Spurs discussion format. How appropriate that after spending a night in Portland, the Spurs launch an official new podcast called “Spurslandia.” We got a podcast y’all! Introducing Spurslandia, our official new podcast hosted by @mattbonner_15 that covers hoops, lifestyle and so much more.First episode with @Patty_Mills launches Tuesday on the Spurs App, iHeartRadio and everywhere else you listen to your podcasts! pic.twitter.com/M57gYge9TF— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) January 16, 2021 The reference...
Pounding The Rock 22 hours ago
The Spurs racked up a number of milestones in their win against Portland
Photo by Brett Carlsen/ The longevity of Pop, Rudy Gay, and Patty Mills continues to set the bar higher. In the midst of a 125-104 thrashing of the Portland Trail Blazers, the San Antonio Spurs hit a number of milestones, both for individual players and as a team. We all know Gregg Popovich is the all-time winningest coach in NBA history (regular and postseason combined) and that he is third in regular season wins behind Don Nelson and Lenny Wilkins, but on Martin Luther King Jr. Day Pop passed Pat Riley for eighth all-time in the category of coached games. Pop moves...
Pounding The Rock 23 hours ago
Spurs show depth in romp over wounded Trail Blazers
Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports LaMarcus Aldridge had a stellar performance against his former team and the second unit gave the Spurs the boost they needed to get another valuable road win. The Spurs’ road dominance continued on Martin Luther King Jr. day in Portland. With LaMarcus Aldridge leading the way and a strong showing from the second unit, San Antonio comfortably beat the Trail Blazers 125-104 to win their sixth game away from the AT&T Center and their eighth of the season. Both teams started off the game taking advantage of their opposing’s center...
Pounding The Rock Jan 18, 2021
San Antonio at Portland, Final Score: Spurs blow out the Trail Blazers on the road, 125-104
Photo by Abbie Parr/ The Silver and Black pick up their first resounding win of the season versus a hobbled Blazers bunch The San Antonio Spurs dominated the fourth quarter and blew out the short-handed Trail Blazers, 125-104, handling business on the road and extending their winning streak to two games. LaMarcus Aldridge, Patty Mills, Rudy Gay, and DeMar DeRozan each scored at least 20 points, and the quartet of veterans led the Silver and Black to victory. Damian Lillard racked up 35 points to pace Portland. Observations Following four points in a season-low 17...
Pounding The Rock Jan 18, 2021
Game Thread: San Antonio Spurs at Portland Trail Blazers
Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports The Spurs try to keep on a winning note in an early afternoon contest in Portland Welcome to the Game Thread. Veterans of the Game Thread know how we do things around here, but for all you newbies we have a few rules. Our community guidelines apply and basically say be cool, no personal attacks, don’t troll and don’t swear too much. As part of the Martin Luther King Day slate of games, the Silver and Black are in Portland to face Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers in Oregon. After splitting a pair at home against the...
Pounding The Rock Jan 18, 2021
If the Trail Blazers are mom’s green bean casserole, the Spurs are a 3rd grader’s birthday party
Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports Fraternizing with the Enemy returns with Dave Deckard of Blazers Edge discussing Portland vs. San Antonio. It has been quite a while since we’ve done on of these, but welcome back to Fraternizing with the Enemy, where today I’ve been visiting with managing editor of PtR’s sister site for the Portland Trail Blazers, Blazer’s Edge. As the two teams head into their first of three matchups this season, they’re separated in the standings by a single game. Dave lost the coin flip, so I got to go first. J.R. Wilco: Good day, my friend....
Pounding The Rock Jan 18, 2021
Power Rankings - Week 4: The Spurs youth movement is making progress
Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via But are the vets holding the team back? The San Antonio Spurs had their first non-playoff season last year, and many thought they would finally pull the trigger to a complete rebuild. But that isn’t the Spurs’ style. So far this season, the Silver and Black have been working through the integration of a young exciting core of players with the corporate knowledge and patience of some veterans. The team has had some incredible successes, as well as some disappointing flops. This week saw the young guns continue to shine, but the...
Pounding The Rock Jan 18, 2021
Open Thread: The NBA celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Photos by Mark Sobhani/NBAE via The Spurs are part of a set of games going on all day long. The NBA released this spot honoring Martin Luther King, Jr.: Although the 2019-2020 season saw so much turmoil due to the coronavirus pandemic, the NBA kept laser focus on human rights and the Black Lives Matter movement. When the NBA reconvened for its truncated season conclusion in Orlando, the court featured a tribute to the movement: Photo by Kevin C. Cox/ Today, the United States celebrates a federal holiday recognizing the birthday of Civil Rights...
Pounding The Rock Jan 18, 2021
Game Preview: San Antonio Spurs at Portland Trail Blazers
Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports The Spurs begin a quick 2-game West Coast swing tonight at the Moda Center in the city of Portland. January continues to be a month of learning for San Antonio. After giving up 61 2nd half points to a Rockets team in their first game of their post-James Harden reality, the Spurs seemingly found that, “appropriate fear,” that head coach Gregg Popovich has been known to preach to his players. San Antonio brought out the clamps in the 2nd half of the rematch on Saturday, limiting Houston to just 38 points in the 2nd half of that game and...
Pounding The Rock Jan 17, 2021
What we learned from the Spurs’ win over the Rockets
Photo by Ronald Cortes/ San Antonio struggles to set themselves apart from the shorthanded Rockets in a closer-than-it-should-have-been victory After dropping a winnable matchup against the astonishingly shorthanded Rockets in their return from a grueling but successful Western Conference road trip, San Antonio bounced back on Saturday to put an end to their four-game home skid. Despite another slow start in which they let Houston hang around for the better part of three quarters, the Spurs took charge down the stretch and never relinquished the lead in the final...
Pounding The Rock Jan 17, 2021
DeMar DeRozan helped the Spurs finish strong to close series with the Rockets
Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports The Spurs get retribution with a win two days after losing to the post-Harden Rockets. Despite a poor shooting night, the Spurs found some juice late in the game to pull out a win against the Rockets. DeMar DeRozan led the way with 24 points and 7 rebounds while Dejounte Murray and Jakob Poeltl each notched a double-double in points and rebounds. Murray scored 18 and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Poeltl came off the bench to score 13 and grabbed 11 rebounds in the winning effort. DeRozan goes hard in the paint and absorbs a lot of punishment...
