duncan228
01-16-2009, 11:08 PM
Spurs give Croshere 10-day look (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Spurs_give_Croshere_10-day_look.html)
Jeff McDonald
PHILADELPHIA — Austin Croshere did something Friday he never had before in his 11-year NBA career.
He signed a 10-day contract.
In what amounts to a low-cost roll of the dice, the Spurs inked Croshere before their game at Philadelphia.
“I've never been on a 10-day before,” Croshere said after a morning shootaround at the Wachovia Center, his first with the Spurs. “I don't even know the rules that go along with that.”
All Croshere does know is this: He has 10 days to show the Spurs something that might cause them to ask him to stick around a while longer.
Croshere notched two points and six rebounds in seven minutes of action in the Spurs' loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night.
A 6-foot-10 shooting forward, Croshere became available after being waived by Milwaukee in a cost-saving maneuver on Jan. 6. When the Spurs contacted him not long after, Croshere says, he was “instantly interested.”
The Spurs are under no delusions that the 33-year-old Croshere is the missing piece to inspire fear in the rest of the Western Conference. But they think he might be able to help.
He has 10 days to prove them right.
“It's the kind of thing we'll often do during the year,” said coach Gregg Popovich, who once brought in Glenn Robinson and Damon Stoudamire as midseason additions. “We'll take a look at other people, in this case a veteran who has been a solid player in the league. We have 10 days to let him get used to what we do and see if he fits into the program in some way.”
Croshere wore No. 22 for the Spurs, after donning 44 in his four previous NBA stops. His preferred number, once worn by George Gervin, has been retired by the Spurs.
“My kids helped me pick a new one,” he said.
Most readily identified by the nine seasons he spent with Indiana, Croshere, has averaged 6.8 points and four rebounds, while shooting 40.8 percent from the field.
At his best, he could provide what the Spurs had hoped to get out of recently released Anthony Tolliver.
“This is the way this worked out,” Croshere said. “You don't question it. You just try to make the most of it.”
No more buzzer-beaters: Heading into Friday's game, the Spurs were 7-2 in games decided by three points or less, winning more such games than any team in the league.
That included a 108-106 victory over the 76ers on a Tony Parker buzzer-beater earlier this month.
The way Popovich figures it, all the Spurs are doing is tempting karma.
“What goes around comes around,” he said. “Ours will come on the other end. The law of averages always catches up to you.”
Jeff McDonald
PHILADELPHIA — Austin Croshere did something Friday he never had before in his 11-year NBA career.
He signed a 10-day contract.
In what amounts to a low-cost roll of the dice, the Spurs inked Croshere before their game at Philadelphia.
“I've never been on a 10-day before,” Croshere said after a morning shootaround at the Wachovia Center, his first with the Spurs. “I don't even know the rules that go along with that.”
All Croshere does know is this: He has 10 days to show the Spurs something that might cause them to ask him to stick around a while longer.
Croshere notched two points and six rebounds in seven minutes of action in the Spurs' loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night.
A 6-foot-10 shooting forward, Croshere became available after being waived by Milwaukee in a cost-saving maneuver on Jan. 6. When the Spurs contacted him not long after, Croshere says, he was “instantly interested.”
The Spurs are under no delusions that the 33-year-old Croshere is the missing piece to inspire fear in the rest of the Western Conference. But they think he might be able to help.
He has 10 days to prove them right.
“It's the kind of thing we'll often do during the year,” said coach Gregg Popovich, who once brought in Glenn Robinson and Damon Stoudamire as midseason additions. “We'll take a look at other people, in this case a veteran who has been a solid player in the league. We have 10 days to let him get used to what we do and see if he fits into the program in some way.”
Croshere wore No. 22 for the Spurs, after donning 44 in his four previous NBA stops. His preferred number, once worn by George Gervin, has been retired by the Spurs.
“My kids helped me pick a new one,” he said.
Most readily identified by the nine seasons he spent with Indiana, Croshere, has averaged 6.8 points and four rebounds, while shooting 40.8 percent from the field.
At his best, he could provide what the Spurs had hoped to get out of recently released Anthony Tolliver.
“This is the way this worked out,” Croshere said. “You don't question it. You just try to make the most of it.”
No more buzzer-beaters: Heading into Friday's game, the Spurs were 7-2 in games decided by three points or less, winning more such games than any team in the league.
That included a 108-106 victory over the 76ers on a Tony Parker buzzer-beater earlier this month.
The way Popovich figures it, all the Spurs are doing is tempting karma.
“What goes around comes around,” he said. “Ours will come on the other end. The law of averages always catches up to you.”