duncan228
09-29-2008, 11:10 PM
Jeff McDonald: Postcards from media day (http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblogs/courtside/archives/2008/09/jeff_mcdonald_p_15.html)
Well, it seems the Spurs have decided to play a 36th season of NBA basketball. Which means we here at the E-N have decided to cover it.
The new season began, unofficially, with Monday's media day. These day-before-training-camp extravanganzas typically seem to catch the Spurs players and coaches in the best mood they'll be in for the next several weeks.
To wit, some notes, quotes and anecdotes from today's festitivities:
* Roger Mason, the team's keynote offseason acquisition, was so eager to make a first impression that he didn't need an alarm clock.
"I couldn't sleep last night, and that's the honest truth," said Mason, a swingman erstwhile of the Washington Wizards. "I woke up at 6 this morning."
It was a happy day-before-media-day for Mason, who gleefully spent his last remaining free day watching his hometown Washington Redskins stun the Dallas Cowboys. He wasn't shy about celebrating the victory -- Mason says he exhanged trash-talking text messages with new teammate Bruce Bowen, an unapologetic Cowboys fanatic.
Mason stopped short of wearing his favorite piece of Redskins garb to meet the media. Again, it's all about first impressions.
"I almost came in with my Redskins slippers today," he said. "I had second thoughts, since I'm in Texas now."
* More than one Spurs veteran was asked about the arrival of George Hill, the 22-year-old rookie point guard drafted in the first round in June. Doesn't that throw off the age curve of what was, until recently, the oldest team in the NBA?
"I think we're probably going to cut him," Manu Ginobili said. "He's too young."
No need, Tim Duncan said.
"We're alright," he said. "We're still old."
* Michael Finley, one of those "old" guys, was nearly unrecognizable. Finley showed up at camp having lost 15 pounds -- down to 220.
The 35-year-old Finley decided he needed to play at a trimmer weight this season, to avoid the fatigue he believes caught up with him last season.
"I started working out two days after we were eliminated," Finley said. "I worked out every day this summer."
He also completely altered his diet, cutting out fried foods altogether and drastically limiting his intake of red meat. He subsists mostly on fresh fruits and vegetables, and eats four or five smaller meals a day instead of three larger ones.
* The most frequent topic of conversation Monday, however, had to be Gregg Popovich's beard. He arrived sporting the same white thicket of whiskers he'd been tending since the Western Conference Finals.
"I like what he's going for," Duncan said. "It's an intimidating look."
The future of Popovich's beard remains firmly in Duncan's hands.
"Whatever Tim tells me to do, I'll do," Popovich said. "If he wants it cut, it's gone. If he likes it, I'll leave it."
Of course, Popovich made it clear even that was a joke. The real master of his overgrown follicles, he says, is his wife Erin.
"She's reserving her judgment until I shower and get it trimmed," Popovich said. "I haven't done that all summer."
At this point, a certain Spurs beat writer noted that perhaps Erin Popovich doesn't want to be married to a Phil Jackson lookalike. Popovich laughed.
Hey, it's media day. Everyone's in a good mood.
Well, it seems the Spurs have decided to play a 36th season of NBA basketball. Which means we here at the E-N have decided to cover it.
The new season began, unofficially, with Monday's media day. These day-before-training-camp extravanganzas typically seem to catch the Spurs players and coaches in the best mood they'll be in for the next several weeks.
To wit, some notes, quotes and anecdotes from today's festitivities:
* Roger Mason, the team's keynote offseason acquisition, was so eager to make a first impression that he didn't need an alarm clock.
"I couldn't sleep last night, and that's the honest truth," said Mason, a swingman erstwhile of the Washington Wizards. "I woke up at 6 this morning."
It was a happy day-before-media-day for Mason, who gleefully spent his last remaining free day watching his hometown Washington Redskins stun the Dallas Cowboys. He wasn't shy about celebrating the victory -- Mason says he exhanged trash-talking text messages with new teammate Bruce Bowen, an unapologetic Cowboys fanatic.
Mason stopped short of wearing his favorite piece of Redskins garb to meet the media. Again, it's all about first impressions.
"I almost came in with my Redskins slippers today," he said. "I had second thoughts, since I'm in Texas now."
* More than one Spurs veteran was asked about the arrival of George Hill, the 22-year-old rookie point guard drafted in the first round in June. Doesn't that throw off the age curve of what was, until recently, the oldest team in the NBA?
"I think we're probably going to cut him," Manu Ginobili said. "He's too young."
No need, Tim Duncan said.
"We're alright," he said. "We're still old."
* Michael Finley, one of those "old" guys, was nearly unrecognizable. Finley showed up at camp having lost 15 pounds -- down to 220.
The 35-year-old Finley decided he needed to play at a trimmer weight this season, to avoid the fatigue he believes caught up with him last season.
"I started working out two days after we were eliminated," Finley said. "I worked out every day this summer."
He also completely altered his diet, cutting out fried foods altogether and drastically limiting his intake of red meat. He subsists mostly on fresh fruits and vegetables, and eats four or five smaller meals a day instead of three larger ones.
* The most frequent topic of conversation Monday, however, had to be Gregg Popovich's beard. He arrived sporting the same white thicket of whiskers he'd been tending since the Western Conference Finals.
"I like what he's going for," Duncan said. "It's an intimidating look."
The future of Popovich's beard remains firmly in Duncan's hands.
"Whatever Tim tells me to do, I'll do," Popovich said. "If he wants it cut, it's gone. If he likes it, I'll leave it."
Of course, Popovich made it clear even that was a joke. The real master of his overgrown follicles, he says, is his wife Erin.
"She's reserving her judgment until I shower and get it trimmed," Popovich said. "I haven't done that all summer."
At this point, a certain Spurs beat writer noted that perhaps Erin Popovich doesn't want to be married to a Phil Jackson lookalike. Popovich laughed.
Hey, it's media day. Everyone's in a good mood.