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especially considering the Spurs' victims since the All-Star break. Denver, Atlanta and Seattle might as well all be coached by Bob Hill.
Buck Harvey: Big Shot or just shot? Familiar signs from Horry
Web Posted: 02/25/2007 12:20 AM CST
San Antonio Express-News
It's one of those ESPN commercials inspired by the sophisticated humor of Jim Carrey. Guys are sitting around talking sports, and one of them is talking out of his, well, ignorance.
His backside says something about how it's too bad Vince Young was such a bust, and later, it utters this blasphemy: "The Spurs don't have a chance this year."
His friends laugh at him for not knowing any better, and he pledges to watch more cable so he won't say such silly things again.
But Dallas wonders what the joke is, and there's more than one in San Antonio who wonders, too. The Spurs own the league's third-best record, and that might as well be the 30th, right?
A five-game winning streak in February won't change that, especially considering the Spurs' victims since the All-Star break. Denver, Atlanta and Seattle might as well all be coached by Bob Hill.
But the Spurs keep showing signs. A fast-twitch defense combines with a Tony Parker show one night, followed by a Manu Ginobili 2005 playoff moment the next. Tim Duncan looks like Tim Duncan, which is always useful, and then came Saturday.
Robert Horry tossed 3-pointers again from out of, well, you know where.
Horry scored only 17 points against Seattle, and, coming after Ginobili's 24-straight highlight in Atlanta, no one was mesmerized. Still, that was the second most Horry had ever scored in the regular season for the Spurs.
He's always been better known for what he does later in the season as the Human Trane (he comes on in the summer). Horry's highest point total with the Spurs was His Night in Detroit.
So when he came to the bench Saturday after dropping a series of 3-pointers on the Sonics, Duncan felt the need to remind Horry the playoffs hadn't started yet. "He's getting a little senile," Duncan said.
Duncan joked, but some in the organization have been worried Horry had finally aged. Michael Finley appeared to still have his legs, and Bruce Bowen, assuming the tightness in his lower back remains loose, still has enough quickness.
But Horry? He's been the concern.
Horry made a few cracks before the season started ("I'm in twilight prime."), and as the season went along, he started to frame his twilight differently.
"I probably won't be able to give you a great effort every night," he admitted in January. "There are some nights I'm just dog-tired for no reason."
Gregg Popovich didn't need to hear any more. From then on, he decided not to play Horry in back-to-backs, and that was in place this past week. Even as the game tightened in Atlanta — when Popovich thought about using Horry — he kept him on the bench because the Spurs played the night before.
Horry won't have this problem in the playoffs, nor will he have the issue he says bothered him the most this season. Nothing made him feel old, after all, like the new ball. "It almost made me want to retire," he said Saturday.
When David Stern reinstalled the leather original, Horry says he needed only a day or two to adjust. After shooting about 26 percent on threes the first month of the season, he's shooting better than his career average since.
The first quarter Saturday was part of that. Then, checking in with the Spurs ahead by three points, Horry went into Detroit mode.
He began with his trademark top-of-the-key 3-pointer, and Ginobili followed with passes — as he did for the finale in 2005 in Detroit — for two more Horry threes.
The Spurs went up by 12 points then. And at the end of the third quarter, when Ginobili again got Horry the ball and Horry again threw in a three, the Spurs went ahead by 33.
"I told him after the game we took snapshots of all those shots," Popovich said afterward. "That's not going to happen all the time."
It doesn't have to happen all the time. Horry, instead, is another Spurs player who is coming around, and another sign.
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especially considering the Spurs' victims since the All-Star break. Denver, Atlanta and Seattle might as well all be coached by Bob Hill.
Man, I hope it's a sign.
Despite the obvious holes in the Spurs roster, I think they have a slight chance of making it to the Finals. But as is the case with every championship, there a lot of factors, and this season perhaps too many, that need to go right for them and for this to happen.
Duncan: Needs to play at his MVP level, near triple doubles every night, dominating inside.
Ginobili: While it'd be great to have him play like 2005 Manu, I don't think he ever will. Instead what needs to happen is Manu to make smarter decisions in the 4th quarter of close games since he is usually the primary option/ballhandler in those situations. Last season he made some poor decisions in the 4th quarter in both the Kings series and Mavs series.
Parker: He needs to keep up his stamina for 4 quarters and he obviously needs to be hitting that mid-range shot off Duncan pick-and-rolls consistently. He's virtually unguardable when he gets into that kind of zone.
Bowen: Needs to stay healthy (esp with the recent back problems) and play his strong defense, which I have no doubt he will. My only thing with him is that he needs to stop doing that weird mid-range shot and stick to attempting 3 pointers.
Finley/Barry/Horry: They are virtually the bench and they need to step it up and hit there open shots. Period.
Vaughn: Still not sold on this guy in the playoffs, but he is all we have so let's hope he continues to play well.
Elson: Needs to learn to play better defense and rebound like he did against Detroit night in and night out. Obviously, he won't be getting 18 rebounds all the time, but why can't that effort be there every night?
Weirdly enough, I do think that this season's Spurs team is better than last season's, despite what the record may indicate. Now the problem is, I don't think we match up that well to the likes of Houston, Utah, etc. and we now match up better with the Mavs. Difference is, a lot of other teams in the NBA have also gotten a lot better too.
Yeah, that is interesting. I have no idea how we had such a great record last year. Tim was way worse because of his injury. Manu too. Tony was fractionally better, but it's almost the same. Barry was worse. Finley and Horry were a bit better, but not enough to produce this much of a difference. I guess the Rasho/Nazr combo just helped the whole club to play better D...
thats something those guys could do. guard the hoop. but very 1 demontional(mispelled?) im tired
I knew Myzte would be looking at this thread now!
It's kinda scary that the playoffs could come down to whether or not Horry shows up.
The FO is only concerned about Horry showing age!? I think they are getting rigged intelligence.
Unlike a bottle of wine, the human body does not improve with age.
It won't come down to only that, but if Horry doesn't show up, the Spurs are hosed.
They will also need reasonable production from the Finley/Barry and Elson/whoever combos.
Any weak link among those three parts, and they can't beat Dallas.
Then Pop needs to quit running plays for that. I don't know why Pop runs as many plays as he does for Bowen to shoot a midrange jumper and/or drive to the lane.
I disagree. If we get solid contributions from Barry and Elson, and Parker continues his run, this team has a really good chance. Anything Horry contributes at this point is bonus.
I think the playoffs come down to, how well Horry feels. How well Rocket is playing, and if Vaughn keeps up the defensive intensity.
I think Duncan, Parker, and Manu will do just fine.
if mavs will win it all
the x factor will not be terry, dirk or howard
someone else will have to be the x factor
last year stack could not get it done this year?
Never heard of a motion offense have you.I don't know why Pop runs as many plays as he does for Bowen to shoot a midrange jumper and/or drive to the lane.
If Horry doesn't show up we are indeed hosed but I'm less worried about that considering this will be his last year. He's not the kind of guy that will go out with a whimper.
If we lose to the Mavs, I've no doubt our undoing will be a lack of perimeter defense. Finley and Barry really hurt our perimeter defense and constantly put our bigs in trouble. If Elson/Horry don't show up with weakside shotblocking then it's all on Tim and if Tim gets in foul trouble, it's likely game over. The fact that it's practically a given Barry/Finley will consistently be broken down off the dribble and put pressure on our defense is what worries me. Unfortunately, they won't change and we don't have any other perimeter player in the rotation to make up for the weakness.
Why do people always expect Horry to do something in the regular season and if he doesn't there's something wrong?
He NEVER does anything in the regular season, and he ALWAYS looks old. He might be done, he might not, but you aren't going to know it in the regular season.
And it's not like he's starts throwing up 20 points per game in the playoffs either...Horry does what he does in pivotal moments, and it's never based on any kind of consistent game by game production.
I swear it's like no one has been watching...
He got run out of Houston for being a disappointment and underachieving, he was let go of in LA because he was done....he's always done this. In fact most of his clutch moments came at points where he was pretty much sucking and disappointing...
Never count out a 6 time champion
I remmeber when Horry nailed a three, stole the ball, and nailed another three, whottt was going ing awol, saying the spurs could not waste this horry effort.
What team were they playing then? That was one of the best horry spur moments ever.
Buck always talks about Bob Hill because he's gone... but he's to much of a puss to write a Pop article....
WCF VS Phoenix.I remmeber when Horry nailed a three, stole the ball, and nailed another three, whottt was going ing awol, saying the spurs could not waste this horry effort.
What team were they playing then?
Game 2 I think.
I thought it was in Denver???
game 4
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IntimateAngela
Last edited by san antonio spurs; 09-17-2011 at 10:41 AM.
I think it was game 2 VS Denver in the first round.
nope, just checked it, it was in Denver.
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Headshop
Last edited by san antonio spurs; 09-17-2011 at 10:41 AM.
Reality is, that quick discription would describe a number of games Horry has played in. Quick steal, game-winner, it's old-hat to him.
You're right...it definitely was in Denver. I remember the groans of the Butt Nugget fans well. I didn't think about that when picking the game...I just knew it was after the loss in the first game against Denver.
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