duncan228
10-05-2008, 11:31 PM
Jeff McDonald: Duncan and the downward dog? (http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblogs/courtside/archives/2008/10/jeff_mcdonald_d_12.html)
When the doors finally opened and the media was let into the Spurs practice gym Sunday afternoon, we stumbled upon a strange sight.
The lights in the gym were still dim, and mats were spread out across the hardwood floor. For a second, it seemed as if we had stumbled into a kindergarten classroom at the tail end of nap time.
As it turns out, all we missed was yoga time.
Yes, the Spurs spent the final 30 minutes of their practice session the same way my wife spends her Saturday mornings.
Once the lights came on and (presumably) the incense had faded, we asked Matt Bonner what the point of all that was.
"The point?," the 6-foot-10 Red Rocket said. "To torture guys like me who aren't flexible."
But no, seriously ...
"During training camp it's mental, but it's also really physical," Bonner said, in mock seriousness. "It's a lot of pounding, a lot of stress on your body ... and on your chi. It does a good job of loosening us up, bringing the body and the mind in balance with each other."
Somewhere, Phil Jackson was thinking this all sounds a little nutty. The gathered media corps, however, played along.
Bonner was asked, with matching mock seriousness, if his body is now in balance with his mind.
"My body hasn't been in balance with my mind since the day I was born," he said. "I still think I can dunk from the foul line."
We're thinking no amount of yoga can help with that.
* The yoga session, however, did work wonders for guard Salim Stoudamire, who participated in his first practice since straining his groin last week. Stoudamire said the muscle still isn't at 100 percent, but he decided to give it a go.
Meanwhille, center-forward Kurt Thomas endured his first practice of camp Sunday. He had been out with a strained hamstring.
Everyone, it seems, turns out for yoga.
When the doors finally opened and the media was let into the Spurs practice gym Sunday afternoon, we stumbled upon a strange sight.
The lights in the gym were still dim, and mats were spread out across the hardwood floor. For a second, it seemed as if we had stumbled into a kindergarten classroom at the tail end of nap time.
As it turns out, all we missed was yoga time.
Yes, the Spurs spent the final 30 minutes of their practice session the same way my wife spends her Saturday mornings.
Once the lights came on and (presumably) the incense had faded, we asked Matt Bonner what the point of all that was.
"The point?," the 6-foot-10 Red Rocket said. "To torture guys like me who aren't flexible."
But no, seriously ...
"During training camp it's mental, but it's also really physical," Bonner said, in mock seriousness. "It's a lot of pounding, a lot of stress on your body ... and on your chi. It does a good job of loosening us up, bringing the body and the mind in balance with each other."
Somewhere, Phil Jackson was thinking this all sounds a little nutty. The gathered media corps, however, played along.
Bonner was asked, with matching mock seriousness, if his body is now in balance with his mind.
"My body hasn't been in balance with my mind since the day I was born," he said. "I still think I can dunk from the foul line."
We're thinking no amount of yoga can help with that.
* The yoga session, however, did work wonders for guard Salim Stoudamire, who participated in his first practice since straining his groin last week. Stoudamire said the muscle still isn't at 100 percent, but he decided to give it a go.
Meanwhille, center-forward Kurt Thomas endured his first practice of camp Sunday. He had been out with a strained hamstring.
Everyone, it seems, turns out for yoga.