duncan228
12-11-2008, 12:06 AM
Delay causes Spurs to have short rest (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Delay_causes_Spurs_to_have_short_rest.html)
By Mike Monroe
It wasn't as bad as sitting on a runway in New Orleans for eight hours the night before a playoff game, but the Spurs spent about an extra hour on the tarmac at Dallas' Love Field after their Tuesday night victory over the Dallas Mavericks to their charter aircraft could be de-iced.
Coming after a double-overtime game that lasted two hours and 44 minutes, it meant an arrival back in San Antonio at 2:20 a.m., giving them a short rest before their back-to-back game against the Atlanta Hawks.
“I'm glad they de-iced,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said, “but 2:20 was different than the one o'clock we were supposed to get in.”
Short work: Spurs' defensive ace Bruce Bowen couldn't suppress a laugh as he reflected on being asked to put a stop to the offensive roll of Dallas guard J. J. Barea, who admits to standing more than an inch under 6-feet, despite being listed at 6-1.
Popovich has assigned Bowen, a perennial member of the NBA All-Defensive team, to shut down some of the league's most potent scorers of all sizes, from forwards Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki, to point guards Steve Nash and Chauncey Billups.
Barea, though, was a different sort of challenge. The Mavericks' guard scored 21, but got 19 of them before Bowen took over defensive duty on him.
“I'd have to say he's the shortest, for sure,” Bowen said. “I just tried to do what I could to get him out of his rhythm, use my size to try and keep him from getting into the paint.”
Popovich said he had no hesitation putting Bowen on Barea.
“Bruce takes great pride, as we all know, in being able to deter people from doing what they want to do,” Popovich said. “He's done it for a lot of years, and done it well.”
No Call: Popovich said the Spurs were convinced Jason Terry's flagrant foul on Tony Parker in Tuesday's game in Dallas should have been ruled a flagrant foul, category two, rather than a flagrant one, which was ruled at the time. A flagrant two carries automatic ejection.
The Spurs did not, however, call the NBA office on Wednesday to register a complaint.
“We thought it could very easily have been judged a flagrant two,” Popovich said, “but the league handles that stuff on their own. They're up on that stuff.
“They don't need to be prodded. They look at all those things and make a decision. They don't need info from the peanut gallery to figure those things out.”
By Mike Monroe
It wasn't as bad as sitting on a runway in New Orleans for eight hours the night before a playoff game, but the Spurs spent about an extra hour on the tarmac at Dallas' Love Field after their Tuesday night victory over the Dallas Mavericks to their charter aircraft could be de-iced.
Coming after a double-overtime game that lasted two hours and 44 minutes, it meant an arrival back in San Antonio at 2:20 a.m., giving them a short rest before their back-to-back game against the Atlanta Hawks.
“I'm glad they de-iced,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said, “but 2:20 was different than the one o'clock we were supposed to get in.”
Short work: Spurs' defensive ace Bruce Bowen couldn't suppress a laugh as he reflected on being asked to put a stop to the offensive roll of Dallas guard J. J. Barea, who admits to standing more than an inch under 6-feet, despite being listed at 6-1.
Popovich has assigned Bowen, a perennial member of the NBA All-Defensive team, to shut down some of the league's most potent scorers of all sizes, from forwards Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki, to point guards Steve Nash and Chauncey Billups.
Barea, though, was a different sort of challenge. The Mavericks' guard scored 21, but got 19 of them before Bowen took over defensive duty on him.
“I'd have to say he's the shortest, for sure,” Bowen said. “I just tried to do what I could to get him out of his rhythm, use my size to try and keep him from getting into the paint.”
Popovich said he had no hesitation putting Bowen on Barea.
“Bruce takes great pride, as we all know, in being able to deter people from doing what they want to do,” Popovich said. “He's done it for a lot of years, and done it well.”
No Call: Popovich said the Spurs were convinced Jason Terry's flagrant foul on Tony Parker in Tuesday's game in Dallas should have been ruled a flagrant foul, category two, rather than a flagrant one, which was ruled at the time. A flagrant two carries automatic ejection.
The Spurs did not, however, call the NBA office on Wednesday to register a complaint.
“We thought it could very easily have been judged a flagrant two,” Popovich said, “but the league handles that stuff on their own. They're up on that stuff.
“They don't need to be prodded. They look at all those things and make a decision. They don't need info from the peanut gallery to figure those things out.”