Posts Tagged ‘Gary Neal’

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Spurs’ Parker On Trading Block …

June 22, 2011  ·  8:49AM

NEW YORK – Go ahead and add Tony Parker‘s name to the growing list of veteran stars being rumored to be on the trading block.

Never mind that Parker recently professed his eternal love for the organization, Tim Duncan, Gregg Popovich and all things Spurs (check the video above). The Spurs haven’t even dignified the rumor, first reported by Yahoo! Sports, with a response.

But as we’ve learned, where the 2011 (or any other) Draft is concerned, basically nothing and no one is sacred. Parker’s name has been mentioned previously, but this latest chatter is particularly intriguing because of the teams rumored to be involved. More from the Express-News:

Yahoo! reports that the Spurs have talked to Toronto, which is picking fifth, and Sacramento, which is picking seventh, about their first-round draft picks.

Parker, who turned 29 last month, is considered to be the most marketable of the Spurs’ “Big Three” because of his age and potential replacements at the position in George Hill and Gary Neal.

But still, it’s a shocker the Spurs would want to trade into the upper part of what most observers believe is a shallow, weak pool of talent.

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Posted in 2011 NBA Draft / Comments (179) /

Can Thunder, Grizzlies top that?

May 11, 2011  ·  10:20AM

OKLAHOMA CITY – Every player in the Thunder locker room is weary.

The Lakers and Spurs are out.

Every last man on the Grizzlies roster is exhausted.

The Magic and Knicks are gone.

Go ahead. Try to tell us what’s going to happen next.

Conventional wisdom, not to mention statistics provided by Elias Sports Bureau, says Oklahoma City is now in control. In series tied at 2-2, the team that won Game 4 prevailed 73.9 percent of the time in the past.

But what does that past have to do with the Thunder blowing a 16-point lead in the third quarter of Game 3 and losing to the Grizzlies in overtime? What does the past have to do with the Grizzlies blowing an 18-point lead in the first half and coming back from being 10 points down with five minutes left in regulation of Game 4? What does the past have anything to do with all of the insanity that happened through three mind-bending overtimes?

“I’ve kind of always felt like momentum isn’t a real thing. It’s not a tangible thing,” Thunder forward Nick Collison said. “I think the way this series has gone, you just have to come out and play each game.

“We’ve played great and we’ve played terrible in this series at different times. So we know that we’re capable of winning and we’re capable of dropping a game. Our mindset is we have to be ready to play in Game 5. I’m sure theirs is the same way. The stuff that happened in the past isn’t going to matter.”

If this is a so-called chess match, then the grand masters on the benches are out of moves. Lionel Hollins went small with his Grizzlies. Scott Brooks went small with his Thunder. Hollins went big. Brooks went big. In Game 4, they went until just short of 1 a.m. in what practically became an all-night pick-up game.

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Posted in 2011 Playoffs, Uncategorized / Comments (67) /

Spurs’ hope: The return of Parker

April 29, 2011  ·  9:51AM

MEMPHIS – There was much for the Spurs to celebrate in the way Game 5 ended, not the least of which were the five wild points they scored in the last 2.2 seconds of the fourth quarter that forced overtime and led to their victory.

First, Manu Ginobili hit his improbable shot from right in front of the San Antonio bench, when he admittedly could not even see the rim. Then there was rookie Gary Neal’s 25-footer that settled into the net as time expired.

But those were fleeting moments. If there is a larger reason for the Spurs to be jubilant and hopeful, it was the return of Tony Parker to being his typically effective self.

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Posted in 2011 Playoffs / Comments (30) /

Remember the Alam-oh-no! Again.

April 28, 2011  ·  12:33PM

SAN ANTONIO – The last time it was Mario Chalmers. This time it was Gary Neal.

What is it about the Alamo City that leaves basketball teams from Memphis feeling like they’ve just been visited by Santa Anna’s army?

It was the 2008 NCAA championship game just up the road when Chalmers hit a high, arcing jumper for Kansas that forced overtime and eventually sent the Memphis Tigers to defeat.

This time it was Neal, the undrafted, 26-year-old rookie who buried the shot that sent Game 5 into overtime and saved the Spurs from an early grave.

In 2008, Derrick Rose made the mistake of missing free throws that held the door open for Kansas.

On Wednesday night, Zach Randolph made the mistake of putting a finger to his lips to tell the San Antonio crowd it was over when it wasn’t after he hit a step-back jumper with 13.8 seconds left to play.

Oh, there were lessons to be learned by the young Grizzlies.

When the Spurs inbounded the ball with 1.7 seconds remaining on the fourth quarter clock, the Grizzlies ignored coach Lionel Hollins’ instructions and none of them came out to guard the 3-point line.

When Neal’s shot went in and the game went to overtime, none of the Grizzlies had the fire within to keep competing.

“I think that we were down after the loss of the lead when they tied it up at the end,” Hollins said. “We had too many guys that were hurt and not mature enough at this stage to just let it go.”

Sometimes, this is how a series can turn. This is how history gets made. One play, one shot, one moment that slips through your grasp.

Now the Grizzlies have to let it go. They have to shake off the uppercut that floored them in time for Game 6. They can’t simply rely on the crowd that will be packed inside FedEx Forum to lift their spirits. They’ve got to go back to being the aggressive, hungry, attacking bunch that keeps on playing all the way to the end.

Or else it’s back to San Antonio, where the ghosts of Memphis basketball will be waiting.

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Posted in Uncategorized / Comments (21) /

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