duncan228
10-25-2008, 12:05 AM
Late shot by Chalmers sinks Spurs (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Late_shot_by_Chalmers_sinks_Spurs.html)
By Jeff McDonald
On their way to the AT&T Center on Friday night, the Miami Heat's team bus passed a San Antonio landmark quite familiar to rookie guard Mario Chalmers.
Forget the Alamo. Chalmers wanted to remember the Alamodome.
It was in that building, just eight months before, that Chalmers hit the jump shot of his life — an 11th-hour 3-pointer that forced an unlikely overtime for Kansas against Memphis, and eventually made the Jayhawks national champions.
Driving past the Dome again, Chalmers remembered.
“It actually made my heart jump,” Chalmers said.
The stakes weren't nearly as high in Heat's preseason finale against the Spurs, when Chalmers offered up a second shining San Antonio moment.
Chalmers' 3-pointer as time expired, lofted from the same spot on the floor as his miracle in March, lifted the Heat to a 96-93 victory.
It wasn't until after the winning shot nestled through the net that Chalmers' internal GPS went off, and he remembered again where he was.
“It didn't register until after the game,” said Chalmers, who finished with 11 points and 10 assists. “I wasn't thinking about it. I just wanted to the help team win.”
Some people have a margarita on the Riverwalk. Chalmers has turned clutch 3-pointers into his San Antonio tradition.
“I guess we just have to tell him every place that we go that it's San Antonio,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said.
The Spurs weren't so shocked to see Chalmers taking the game-winner. They all saw the Final Four.
“We all watch TV, we know,” guard Roger Mason said. “But had this been a regular-season game we would have used a timeout. It would have been different.”
If Chalmers has his way, there will be more where that came from. He was still sitting on the draft board in June when the Spurs went on the clock for the 26th pick. He was expecting the phone to ring.
He had worked out twice for the Spurs, and in his own admittedly biased estimation, the workouts went well.
Instead, the Spurs went with another point guard, George Hill out of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. This, too, is something Chalmers won't soon forget.
Asked if his draft-day disappointment served as motivation, Chalmers nodded.
“Yeah, it definitely did, (with) the way everything went down,” Chalmers said. “But, you know, everything happens for a reason.”
The Spurs don't regret taking Hill. He has been a training-camp revelation, though he didn't play Friday because of a sprained left thumb.
Against Miami, the Spurs had more pressing concerns than reflecting on the June draft anyway. For them, the game was about getting their veterans into some semblance of a regular-season rhythm.
Tony Parker and Tim Duncan appear to already be there. Parker had 16 points, 12 of them in the third quarter, while Duncan had 11.
When it came time for the Spurs to rally from an 11-point second-half deficit, it was a pair of role players who brought them back.
Matt Bonner had all eight of his points in the fourth quarter, while Mason had eight of his 12 in the frame.
It was a show of resilience on the part of both players, who each began the game 1 of 6 from the field.
Mason scored the last five points for the Spurs, draining a 3-pointer to bring the Spurs within 92-91 with 24.4 seconds left, then driving past Chalmers for the game-tying layup with 16.5 left.
By Jeff McDonald
On their way to the AT&T Center on Friday night, the Miami Heat's team bus passed a San Antonio landmark quite familiar to rookie guard Mario Chalmers.
Forget the Alamo. Chalmers wanted to remember the Alamodome.
It was in that building, just eight months before, that Chalmers hit the jump shot of his life — an 11th-hour 3-pointer that forced an unlikely overtime for Kansas against Memphis, and eventually made the Jayhawks national champions.
Driving past the Dome again, Chalmers remembered.
“It actually made my heart jump,” Chalmers said.
The stakes weren't nearly as high in Heat's preseason finale against the Spurs, when Chalmers offered up a second shining San Antonio moment.
Chalmers' 3-pointer as time expired, lofted from the same spot on the floor as his miracle in March, lifted the Heat to a 96-93 victory.
It wasn't until after the winning shot nestled through the net that Chalmers' internal GPS went off, and he remembered again where he was.
“It didn't register until after the game,” said Chalmers, who finished with 11 points and 10 assists. “I wasn't thinking about it. I just wanted to the help team win.”
Some people have a margarita on the Riverwalk. Chalmers has turned clutch 3-pointers into his San Antonio tradition.
“I guess we just have to tell him every place that we go that it's San Antonio,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said.
The Spurs weren't so shocked to see Chalmers taking the game-winner. They all saw the Final Four.
“We all watch TV, we know,” guard Roger Mason said. “But had this been a regular-season game we would have used a timeout. It would have been different.”
If Chalmers has his way, there will be more where that came from. He was still sitting on the draft board in June when the Spurs went on the clock for the 26th pick. He was expecting the phone to ring.
He had worked out twice for the Spurs, and in his own admittedly biased estimation, the workouts went well.
Instead, the Spurs went with another point guard, George Hill out of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. This, too, is something Chalmers won't soon forget.
Asked if his draft-day disappointment served as motivation, Chalmers nodded.
“Yeah, it definitely did, (with) the way everything went down,” Chalmers said. “But, you know, everything happens for a reason.”
The Spurs don't regret taking Hill. He has been a training-camp revelation, though he didn't play Friday because of a sprained left thumb.
Against Miami, the Spurs had more pressing concerns than reflecting on the June draft anyway. For them, the game was about getting their veterans into some semblance of a regular-season rhythm.
Tony Parker and Tim Duncan appear to already be there. Parker had 16 points, 12 of them in the third quarter, while Duncan had 11.
When it came time for the Spurs to rally from an 11-point second-half deficit, it was a pair of role players who brought them back.
Matt Bonner had all eight of his points in the fourth quarter, while Mason had eight of his 12 in the frame.
It was a show of resilience on the part of both players, who each began the game 1 of 6 from the field.
Mason scored the last five points for the Spurs, draining a 3-pointer to bring the Spurs within 92-91 with 24.4 seconds left, then driving past Chalmers for the game-tying layup with 16.5 left.