duncan228
10-26-2008, 12:00 PM
Call Spurs the crypt-kickers (http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/6075467.html)
Like Monster Mash, old team is far from dead
By FRAN BLINEBURY Houston Chronicle
The San Antonio Spurs had barely had time to walk off the court following their playoff loss last spring when they could already hear the funeral dirge ringing in their ears.
There are zombies in horror movies that haven’t been buried as many times as the Spurs.
“That’s because we’re older than dirt,” said head coach Gregg Popovich with a shrug and a laugh. “When we won it all in ’07, we were called a really experienced, savvy team. If you lose, you’re too old.”
So can you smell the formaldehyde in the air? Can you see the wheelchairs the Spurs require to get up and down the court? Can you see Tim Duncan sitting on the bench with a shawl over his body to keep warm?
Keep digging out
It feeds right into the image. The basketball world always wants to lower the Spurs into the ground. But they keep finding a way to dig themselves back out.
There’s no trick to it, no sleight of hand.
There’s simply Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, as solid and experienced and effective a threesome as you’ll find in the NBA when they’re healthy. And, yes, that includes the Boston Celtics.
Popovich watched everything the Celtics were able to do against the Lakers last June in the NBA Finals, and he knows how close his Spurs were — and still are — to reclaiming their spot at the top of the mountain.
The every-other-year dynasty (’03, ’05, ’07) knows this is the time when they usually turn things around. Just when everybody seems to doubt that they have anything left.
The Spurs are getting old. That’s the old line. But Duncan is only 32, Ginobili is 30 and Parker’s a mere 26.
Popovich knows that there is nothing at all wrong with the core — the heart and soul — of his team that catching breaks in terms of avoiding late-season injuries won’t solve.
“If Manu wasn’t out there playing hurt against the Lakers, if we have him able to play the way we know he can play and the way he has played in the past, then that’s probably a whole different series,” Popovich said. “You have to have your horses. If Manu’s not whole, we’re not gonna win — that’s all there is to it.”
After re-injuring his left ankle at the Olympics in Beijing in August, Ginobili needed surgery to repair tendons and will be miss at least the first month of the season.
“With Manu, this is probably the best thing that could happen,” Popovich said. “Because if we hadn’t operated on him, if he hadn’t gotten hurt in the Olympics, it probably would have happened 30 games into the season and we’d have missed him the rest of the year. So hopefully this makes him well.”
When Ginobili is cutting and driving and doing all of those wonderfully wacky things that make him Ginobili, trying to stop the Spurs becomes nearly impossible.
When Manu is being Manu, it allows Tim to be Tim and Tony to be Tony, and it takes the pressure off all of the Spurs’ complementary parts.
With Fabricio Oberto, Matt Bonner and Ime Udoka, there’s no reason to think the Spurs are lacking in capable bodies up front.
That’s even after they decided to take a pass on 37-year-old former Rocket Robert Horry, who seemed to finally run out of gas and magic last season.
Veteran experience
It would be a mistake to say the Spurs have taken their eye off contending for championship banners and are moving into a transition period. Quite the contrary, they feel all of that veteran experience is what makes them dangerous and a tough out in the playoffs. See what they did to the young and fleet-footed New Orleans Hornets in the second round last spring.
“I still like what I see when we’re all out there on the court together, playing our game,” Parker said. “Anybody who thinks we’re finished either hasn’t been paying attention or doesn’t really know us.”
THE STARTERS
F Tim Duncan 6-11 260
Maybe the best ever at his position, he shows no signs of slowing down.
F Bruce Bowen 6-7 200
Older and a hair slower, he hasn’t lost his defensive chops.
C Fabricio Oberto 6-10 245
The ultimate garbage man just cleans up around the basket.
G Tony Parker 6-2 180
With his speed and confidence and three rings, he’s just reaching him prime.
G Michael Finley 6-7 225
Until Manu Ginobili returns, the old veteran can hold down the fort.
Like Monster Mash, old team is far from dead
By FRAN BLINEBURY Houston Chronicle
The San Antonio Spurs had barely had time to walk off the court following their playoff loss last spring when they could already hear the funeral dirge ringing in their ears.
There are zombies in horror movies that haven’t been buried as many times as the Spurs.
“That’s because we’re older than dirt,” said head coach Gregg Popovich with a shrug and a laugh. “When we won it all in ’07, we were called a really experienced, savvy team. If you lose, you’re too old.”
So can you smell the formaldehyde in the air? Can you see the wheelchairs the Spurs require to get up and down the court? Can you see Tim Duncan sitting on the bench with a shawl over his body to keep warm?
Keep digging out
It feeds right into the image. The basketball world always wants to lower the Spurs into the ground. But they keep finding a way to dig themselves back out.
There’s no trick to it, no sleight of hand.
There’s simply Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, as solid and experienced and effective a threesome as you’ll find in the NBA when they’re healthy. And, yes, that includes the Boston Celtics.
Popovich watched everything the Celtics were able to do against the Lakers last June in the NBA Finals, and he knows how close his Spurs were — and still are — to reclaiming their spot at the top of the mountain.
The every-other-year dynasty (’03, ’05, ’07) knows this is the time when they usually turn things around. Just when everybody seems to doubt that they have anything left.
The Spurs are getting old. That’s the old line. But Duncan is only 32, Ginobili is 30 and Parker’s a mere 26.
Popovich knows that there is nothing at all wrong with the core — the heart and soul — of his team that catching breaks in terms of avoiding late-season injuries won’t solve.
“If Manu wasn’t out there playing hurt against the Lakers, if we have him able to play the way we know he can play and the way he has played in the past, then that’s probably a whole different series,” Popovich said. “You have to have your horses. If Manu’s not whole, we’re not gonna win — that’s all there is to it.”
After re-injuring his left ankle at the Olympics in Beijing in August, Ginobili needed surgery to repair tendons and will be miss at least the first month of the season.
“With Manu, this is probably the best thing that could happen,” Popovich said. “Because if we hadn’t operated on him, if he hadn’t gotten hurt in the Olympics, it probably would have happened 30 games into the season and we’d have missed him the rest of the year. So hopefully this makes him well.”
When Ginobili is cutting and driving and doing all of those wonderfully wacky things that make him Ginobili, trying to stop the Spurs becomes nearly impossible.
When Manu is being Manu, it allows Tim to be Tim and Tony to be Tony, and it takes the pressure off all of the Spurs’ complementary parts.
With Fabricio Oberto, Matt Bonner and Ime Udoka, there’s no reason to think the Spurs are lacking in capable bodies up front.
That’s even after they decided to take a pass on 37-year-old former Rocket Robert Horry, who seemed to finally run out of gas and magic last season.
Veteran experience
It would be a mistake to say the Spurs have taken their eye off contending for championship banners and are moving into a transition period. Quite the contrary, they feel all of that veteran experience is what makes them dangerous and a tough out in the playoffs. See what they did to the young and fleet-footed New Orleans Hornets in the second round last spring.
“I still like what I see when we’re all out there on the court together, playing our game,” Parker said. “Anybody who thinks we’re finished either hasn’t been paying attention or doesn’t really know us.”
THE STARTERS
F Tim Duncan 6-11 260
Maybe the best ever at his position, he shows no signs of slowing down.
F Bruce Bowen 6-7 200
Older and a hair slower, he hasn’t lost his defensive chops.
C Fabricio Oberto 6-10 245
The ultimate garbage man just cleans up around the basket.
G Tony Parker 6-2 180
With his speed and confidence and three rings, he’s just reaching him prime.
G Michael Finley 6-7 225
Until Manu Ginobili returns, the old veteran can hold down the fort.