duncan228
02-22-2009, 10:00 PM
Home sweet home? Not for Popovich (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Home_sweet_home_Not_for_Popovich.html)
Jeff McDonald
Tony Parker finished dressing, gathered his belongings and took one last look around the visitors locker room.
“It's a long trip,” Parker said. “I'm ready to go home.”
That was Thursday, when the Spurs were in Detroit with still one game left on their annual rodeo-inspired tour of America. Two days later, they finally finished it off in style with a 98-67 victory at Washington, then boarded a charter flight home to South Texas for a long-awaited trio of home games.
It is a safe bet almost everyone on that plane shared Parker's sentiment. Dorothy said it best in Oz: “There's no place like home.”
To which Spurs coach Gregg Popovich might retort, in not so many words, “Baloney.”
If Popovich were allowed to play build-your-own-NBA-schedule, he might assign his team 82 road games.
“Personally, I like playing on the road,” he said. “It builds character.”
Typically, Popovich loves the team's rodeo trip for just that reason. It affords him a captive audience, forces focus and engenders what Popovich calls a “bunker mentality” in his players.
This year, however, that bunker was broken by two lengthy returns to San Antonio to break up the eight-game swing.
It was an itinerary built to bank serious frequent-flier miles: back-to-back at Golden State and Denver, home for four days, Boston, New Jersey, Toronto, five days off for the All-Star break, then New York, Detroit and Washington.
“Disjointed as hell,” Popovich called it.
So disjointed, in fact, that Popovich doesn't believe the Spurs gleaned the same character-building benefits from this year's rodeo trip they might have in years past. With all the time spent sleeping in their own beds, it hardly felt like roughing it.
“It's been a pain in the ass,” Popovich said. “It's not the same situation we've had in the past, where we've had their attention. It was too broken up. I hated it.”
Much to Popovich's chagrin, the Spurs resume the home portion of their slate Tuesday against Dallas. It will be the first of three home games against playoff contenders, an obstacle course that includes a visit from Portland on Wednesday and Cleveland on Friday.
After that, Popovich can rejoice. The Spurs are home less than a week before they're back on the road, character-building. They open March with a three-game trip, visiting Portland, the Clippers and Dallas.
The Spurs went 5-3 on their latest rodeo excursion, bringing their record to 40-16 on rodeo trips since they became a scheduling staple in 2002. They return in good shape in the Southwest Division, three games head of second-place Houston, though they lag behind the Lakers by 71/2 games in the conference.
“Right now, I think we're right in the mix,” Tim Duncan said. “We've got some tough teams to play, obviously, but I like where we're sitting right now.”
Home or away, and no matter the opposition, the Spurs know their fate rests largely on the right distal fibula of Manu Ginobili.
Ginobili's injury — a stress reaction, due to sideline him at least two weeks — was the biggest development of the Spurs' rodeo trip. Without him, the Spurs stand little chance against the conference-leading Lakers.
With a little less than two months of the regular season remaining, there is a growing sense that the playoff race is going to be, foremost, a battle of attrition. The team with the most stars still upright will survive.
Kevin Garnett is in the injury boat in Boston. Amare Stoudemire might be done for the season in Phoenix. It is uncertain whether Andrew Bynum will rejoin the Lakers by the time the playoffs start.
“Depending on what the health situation is come playoff time, it has a huge effect on what teams might do,” Popovich said. “Everybody just has to roll with it. We've always felt the important things toward playoff time are freshness and health. Hopefully, we'll be in that situation.”
Jeff McDonald
Tony Parker finished dressing, gathered his belongings and took one last look around the visitors locker room.
“It's a long trip,” Parker said. “I'm ready to go home.”
That was Thursday, when the Spurs were in Detroit with still one game left on their annual rodeo-inspired tour of America. Two days later, they finally finished it off in style with a 98-67 victory at Washington, then boarded a charter flight home to South Texas for a long-awaited trio of home games.
It is a safe bet almost everyone on that plane shared Parker's sentiment. Dorothy said it best in Oz: “There's no place like home.”
To which Spurs coach Gregg Popovich might retort, in not so many words, “Baloney.”
If Popovich were allowed to play build-your-own-NBA-schedule, he might assign his team 82 road games.
“Personally, I like playing on the road,” he said. “It builds character.”
Typically, Popovich loves the team's rodeo trip for just that reason. It affords him a captive audience, forces focus and engenders what Popovich calls a “bunker mentality” in his players.
This year, however, that bunker was broken by two lengthy returns to San Antonio to break up the eight-game swing.
It was an itinerary built to bank serious frequent-flier miles: back-to-back at Golden State and Denver, home for four days, Boston, New Jersey, Toronto, five days off for the All-Star break, then New York, Detroit and Washington.
“Disjointed as hell,” Popovich called it.
So disjointed, in fact, that Popovich doesn't believe the Spurs gleaned the same character-building benefits from this year's rodeo trip they might have in years past. With all the time spent sleeping in their own beds, it hardly felt like roughing it.
“It's been a pain in the ass,” Popovich said. “It's not the same situation we've had in the past, where we've had their attention. It was too broken up. I hated it.”
Much to Popovich's chagrin, the Spurs resume the home portion of their slate Tuesday against Dallas. It will be the first of three home games against playoff contenders, an obstacle course that includes a visit from Portland on Wednesday and Cleveland on Friday.
After that, Popovich can rejoice. The Spurs are home less than a week before they're back on the road, character-building. They open March with a three-game trip, visiting Portland, the Clippers and Dallas.
The Spurs went 5-3 on their latest rodeo excursion, bringing their record to 40-16 on rodeo trips since they became a scheduling staple in 2002. They return in good shape in the Southwest Division, three games head of second-place Houston, though they lag behind the Lakers by 71/2 games in the conference.
“Right now, I think we're right in the mix,” Tim Duncan said. “We've got some tough teams to play, obviously, but I like where we're sitting right now.”
Home or away, and no matter the opposition, the Spurs know their fate rests largely on the right distal fibula of Manu Ginobili.
Ginobili's injury — a stress reaction, due to sideline him at least two weeks — was the biggest development of the Spurs' rodeo trip. Without him, the Spurs stand little chance against the conference-leading Lakers.
With a little less than two months of the regular season remaining, there is a growing sense that the playoff race is going to be, foremost, a battle of attrition. The team with the most stars still upright will survive.
Kevin Garnett is in the injury boat in Boston. Amare Stoudemire might be done for the season in Phoenix. It is uncertain whether Andrew Bynum will rejoin the Lakers by the time the playoffs start.
“Depending on what the health situation is come playoff time, it has a huge effect on what teams might do,” Popovich said. “Everybody just has to roll with it. We've always felt the important things toward playoff time are freshness and health. Hopefully, we'll be in that situation.”