Report: Davis Bertans tears ACL, will undergo surgery

Written by Jeff Garcia on .

As Project Spurs reported recently, Partizan forward Davis Bertans suffered a right knee injury in a game versus Crvena Zvezda in the Serbian League Finals. It was a non-contact injury to his right knee and he was on the court in considerable pain.

An MRI was done and according to Euroleague.net, Bertans did sustain a tear his ACL in his right knee. He is expected to undergo surgery this week.

"It is a difficult situation", said Partizan head coach Dusko Vujosevic. "Davis took it pretty hard, but I am sure he will come out of this even stronger. Our club is behind him." 

Bertans will likely miss the Eurobasket tournament this summer for Latvia in Slovenia and could could miss the entire 2013-14 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Regular Season. This also ends any chance he could have played for the San Antonio Spurs at this summer's NBA Summer League.

Check out the video of Bertans' injury.

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Video: Spurs-Heat Game 5 Postgame Press Conferences

Written by Jeff Garcia on .

Did you miss any of what the San Antonio Spurs or Miami Heat had to say after their Game 5 clash? Well if you did, you are in luck. Our friends over at News 4 San Antonio have you covered.

Here is what Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Coach Popovich and Spoelstra had to say about Game 5 before the scene shifts to Miami for Game 6 tomorrow.

Tony:

Tim

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Pop's move to start Ginobili may have turned the tide

Written by Rey Moralde on .

During the San Antonio Spurs' title chase in the 2013 NBA Finals, Rey Moralde of The No Look Pass will be contributing to Project Spurs.

At first glance, it seemed foolish of Coach Gregg Popovich that he would start Manu Ginobili. After all, the "small ball" line-up seemed to play into Miami's hands. While others charged that the move really reeked of desperation, it is the NBA Finals and you have to pull out all the stops here. And, boy, did Manu pull out all the stops.
 
It seemed more than just a countermove to Miami's starting line-up that had included Mike Miller in the last two games. And when Tiago Splitter was taking on Dwyane Wade in the perimeter, a change had to be made (remember Game 4 when Gary Neal got in the game early after Miami exploited that match-up). Ginobili had been in a bad slump; he's shot less than 40 percent in the postseason and had only scored 17 total points in the previous three games. This move was basically to get Ginobili warm from the start.
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Video: Meet LeBron James' flopping coach

Written by Jeff Garcia on .

Needless to say, Miami Heat's LeBron James not only has a reputation as arguably the best player in the NBA, but he also has a reputation as one of the most prolific floppers in the NBA. His flop may even be better than San Antonio Spurs' Manu Ginobili's.

From passing glances from an opposing player's arm which causes LeBron great agony to a light tap of a player's hip leading him to fall to the court in a heap, James has perfected the art of flopping like no other. But where did LeBron perfect this tactic? Who taught him the art of flopping?

Well Coach Frank Calhoun that's who!

Check out this hilarious sketch comedy for Cleveland's (of course it would come from Cleveland) "Rizzo Show" which gives Heat and Spurs fans Coach Calhoun, Lebron's flop sensei including some of Calhoun's moments as as the original flopper.

Also, Coach Calhoun prides himself in showing Ginobili how to flop but considers LeBron his prize pupil of all time.

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On Diaw's defense of LeBron James

Written by Quixem Ramirez on .

There are plenty of players more qualified than San Antonio Spurs' Boris Diaw to defend LeBron James. Many have comparable athleticism (Paul George, Andre Iguodala), many have long arms to shut off his driving angles (Kawhi Leonard), and many have length (Kevin Durant) to bother his shot. The best defenders have a combination of the aforementioned attributes.
 
But even the most qualified defenders, the "graduates" of the LeBron James defensive academy, struggle in plugging the many facets of James' game. He's too well rounded -- he can destroy any competent defender with a quick drive to the bucket or, with one brilliant cross-court pass, he can start a comparably deadly series of help rotations.
 
Diaw, meanwhile, is six-foot-8 -- James' height -- but he's laterally challenged and rarely guards players of All-NBA talent.
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Like family, Spurs never lost faith in Ginobili

Written by Paul Garcia on .

AT&T Center – On Thursday when the San Antonio Spurs fell to the Miami Heat in Game 4, some fans and even media members were all asking a similar question, what’s wrong with Manu Ginobili?

In the locker room and on the podium however, Ginobili’s teammates remained confident and had faith that Ginobili would come out of his shooting slump in the series.

“I have a lot of confidence in Manu,” said Tony Parker Thursday night. “I just know he’s going to have a big game soon.”

“I have not lost confidence in Manu,” added Gary Neal after the Spurs had faced defeat Thursday.

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Report: Spurs, CSKA Moscow to play an exhibition game

Written by Jeff Garcia on .

With the San Antonio Spurs' 2012-13 season coming to a close this week, plans are already in motion for exhibition play heading into next season.

According to Sportando.net, the Spurs and Russian club CSKA Moscow are in talks to hold an exhibition game this fall according to Manu Ginobili's former coach and current CSKA coach Ettore Messina.

"Manu Ginobili was one of my players with Kinder and I am still in contact with him. Then there is coach Gregg Popovich, whom I consider a friend" said Ettore Messina. We are discussing the modalities of the game. I hope that the game will take place" said CSKA Moscow head coach.

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Video: Danny Green's record breaking three pointer

Written by Jeff Garcia on .

San Antonio Spurs' Danny Green has been on a tear in the NBA Finals versus the Miami Heat from the three-point line.

Aside from his shooting performance in Game 3 when he nailed 7-9 from long range, in Game 5, Green did it again with a spectacular shooting performance connecting on 6-10 from the three-point line and finishing with 24 points to pace the Spurs to the win.

But aside from showing off his shooting stroke, Green also broke Heat's Ray Allen's Finals record for the most three pointers in the Finals. Relive that golden moment one more time.

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Game 5: What went right, and other statistical nuggets

Written by Quixem Ramirez on .

What went right: The San Antonio Spurs pushed the ball often -- off makes, misses and free throws. Each transition possessions starts with the Spurs bigs. They have to make effective outlet passes to their guards, and more than a few transition buckets were generated by a couple of three pass sequences in which the ball barely (if at all) touched the hardwood. Boom, boom, boom, bang. The ball whirred from each destination to the next with little dribbling in between, giving Miami's defense little time to adjust.
 
Tim Duncan beat his man to the spot often, and had plenty of shot clock to utilize because San Antonio transitioned to their offense quickly. A deadly combination. And even when the Heat plugged their first few options, the Spurs scored 18 points on 14 possessions in which they took at least 20 seconds off the shot clock (hat-tip to Couper Moorhead of Heat.com). Miami just had no chance.
 
What went wrong: Turnovers. San Antonio made a concerted effort to dictate the pace, which also means they had more chances to screw up. The byproduct was 18 turnovers, which the Heat turned into 16 points. It could've been much worse though; Miami missed seven transition attempts, and LeBron James in particular butchered a few of these prime opportunities. These turnovers almost mired an otherwise excellent offensive game so cleaning up these mistakes should be a point of emphasis.
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San Antonio Spurs 114, Miami Heat 104: One. More. Win.

Written by Jesse Blanchard on .

AT&T CENTER--In the two days off following one of the worst playoff performances of his career, all Manu Ginobili could hear were a series of dire questions. What was wrong with his game? Did he have anything left in the tank? Was it time to retire? Ginobili admitted some lackluster performances this season allowed some doubts to creep in him mind. In his last appearance of the season at the AT&T Center, however, the questions subsided.

Leaving San Antonio with a thrilling 24-point, 10-assist performance, the only sounds Ginobili heard in the San Antonio Spurs 114-104 victory were the thousands of fans screaming his name.

Ma-nu! Ma-nu! Ma-nu!

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