Nobody needs to remind Ime Udoka that his contract with the Spurs is up at the end of the season. He knows full well he is playing as much for his present as he is for the future.
Udoka, a 6-foot-6 swingman, signed a two-year deal worth a total of just over $2 million in the summer of 2007. He makes no secret of the fact that he would prefer to re-up with the Spurs when it expires in July. Over the next few weeks or months, Udoka will make his sales pitch. His performance in the playoffs should go a long way toward determining his future.
"The way I've always approached it as a free agent in the past, I'm going to play hard," Udoka said. "You're not only playing for your team but for the rest of the league. At least, that's how I had to look at it in the past."
Udoka, 31, has earned increased minutes in Gregg Popovich's bench rotation lately, mostly due to his defense, and has made the most of them. In Sunday's loss to Houston, he scored a season-high 16 points, shooting 7 of 9 from the floor and collecting seven rebounds.
There was a time this season when Udoka had all but disappeared from the rotation, and it appeared his days in San Antonio might be numbered. Now that he has returned to active duty, Udoka is essentially playing for his next contract, which he hopes will come from the Spurs.
"Definitely," Udoka said. "I've had a great two years here. Just the comfort level you get from playing with these guys, and knowing the type of team we have, it's great to be here."
Tweet, tweet: Milwaukee forward Charlie Villanueva recently drew the ire of Bucks coach Scott Skiles for posting a Twitter update from the locker room at halftime.
Had Villanueva played for Popovich, a self-professed Luddite, he probably could have gotten away with it.
"I'm still on the fax," Popovich said. "I do faxes. Faxes and letters. Sometimes my daughter will check my phone, and there will be an e-mail, and it will be from last Christmas or something.
"You could Twitter me to death, and I wouldn't know it."
Sixth man Maggette: Quietly, Golden State's Corey Maggette has become one of the NBA's best reserves. Maggette, whose Warriors face the Spurs tonight, is averaging 19.7 points in 30 games off the bench this season, second only to Dallas' Jason Terry.
"He's going great coming off the bench," Warriors coach Don Nelson said. "It's really helped me, because we had an obvious problem playing everybody, especially when everybody's healthy."
