jalbre6
03-08-2005, 02:11 PM
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/lang_whitaker/03/07/the.links/index.html
No system failure here
Overlooked Spurs do things right way, keep winning
I spent most of last week hanging around the Spurs for a story that will be in an upcoming issue of SLAM magazine, and I saw San Antonio beat Toronto and Chicago. The Spurs aren't playing their best right now, but they've won four straight, including a victory against Utah Sunday night despite losing Tim Duncan to a sprained ankle.
The Spurs don't get a lot of attention, and that's partly because they've been so good for so long. We hear a lot about Miami, Detroit, Phoenix and Seattle, and they're all having great seasons. By now, we expect the Spurs to win. Since the 1989-90 campaign, San Antonio has won at least 47 games in every season but two: '96-97, when David Robinson was out with a broken foot, and as a result the Spurs ended up winning the lottery and getting Duncan; two seasons later, in '98-99, the Spurs won 37 games and lost 13 in the lockout-shortened season (and won a championship). Since taking over as coach in 1997, Gregg Popovich has won almost twice as many games as he's lost.
Another reason the Spurs tend to avoid the media radar is because their best player, Duncan, is so un-magnetic. He doesn't like talking, and when he does speak, he's often rote and monotone. Still, at 46-13, the Spurs enter this week with the best record in the NBA.
When you talk to San Antonio's players about why their team is so good, one word comes up again and again: system. So, I asked Popovich what, exactly, is the system.
Pop suspiciously looked both ways, leaned close then whispered: "It's a secret." Then he busted out laughing.
"No," he chortled, "every team has a system. Ours isn't any better than anybody else's. Every team, every coach has a system, how they manage, how they coach, what the guys do on and off the court. [What we do] is not very different from anybody else. There's no team that's going to say, 'We try to hold the ball as much as possible,' or, 'We're selfish.' It's hard to describe I guess."
If you believe Pop, the Spurs are just doing what everyone else does. But something must be different, right? How else do you explain their excellence?
"I think mostly the system is about consistency," Popovich expounded. "Our system more than anything is just persistent and consistent with a defensive emphasis. We don't talk about how many games we're going to win, winning a division, winning a championship, none of that stuff. No goals, none like that. Our goal is to get better every day, to practice every day, to treat the game with respect. If we can come out every practice and every game, learning something that we did well or that we did poorly, we can go from there. And then, you know, the way you handle players off the court or around the court that's just an individual thing with every team."
But there, too, the Spurs do things a little differently. "Everybody gets treated the same way -- if you screw up, you're going to get yelled at, and that means everybody from Tim Duncan to the guys on the injured reserve," said reserve forward Tony Massenburg, who's played for a dozen NBA franchises. "That sends a message that it's all about doing things the right way around here. A lot of franchises don't practice that, unfortunately. They select certain people who can do no wrong and have certain people that can't do anything right."
Both Pop and Spurs GM R.C. Buford are quick to point out that they're able to have a star-less system because of their biggest star, Duncan. The best players on other teams might feel as though they deserve to be treated differently than everyone else. Not Duncan.
"Well, that's just the way I am," Duncan explained. "That's what's been instilled in me from the get-go. I've had some great coaches coming up along the way, and I think the biggest thing about that is when you get to the point where someone doesn't want to yell at you or tell you what you're doing wrong, you're the worst for it. So Pop is equal opportunity with that and we like it that way."
And then there's the city of San Antonio. Even on a Wednesday night against the lowly Raptors, nearly 18,000 showed up to root for the only major league team in town -- though Duncan dutifully pointed out the Silver Stars of the WNBA are also there. "San Antonio isn't really a small town," noted Manu Ginobili, "but it has the spirit of a small town."
Put the whole package together, and it's a slice of basketball heaven: a winning franchise in a town that appreciates it. And with their thrilling mix of skill (Duncan), speed (Tony Parker), defense (Bruce Bowen), moxie (Ginobili), depth (the recently added Nazr Mohammed) and brains (Popovich), it says here the good folks of San Antonio better get ready for another ticker-tape parade this summer.
No system failure here
Overlooked Spurs do things right way, keep winning
I spent most of last week hanging around the Spurs for a story that will be in an upcoming issue of SLAM magazine, and I saw San Antonio beat Toronto and Chicago. The Spurs aren't playing their best right now, but they've won four straight, including a victory against Utah Sunday night despite losing Tim Duncan to a sprained ankle.
The Spurs don't get a lot of attention, and that's partly because they've been so good for so long. We hear a lot about Miami, Detroit, Phoenix and Seattle, and they're all having great seasons. By now, we expect the Spurs to win. Since the 1989-90 campaign, San Antonio has won at least 47 games in every season but two: '96-97, when David Robinson was out with a broken foot, and as a result the Spurs ended up winning the lottery and getting Duncan; two seasons later, in '98-99, the Spurs won 37 games and lost 13 in the lockout-shortened season (and won a championship). Since taking over as coach in 1997, Gregg Popovich has won almost twice as many games as he's lost.
Another reason the Spurs tend to avoid the media radar is because their best player, Duncan, is so un-magnetic. He doesn't like talking, and when he does speak, he's often rote and monotone. Still, at 46-13, the Spurs enter this week with the best record in the NBA.
When you talk to San Antonio's players about why their team is so good, one word comes up again and again: system. So, I asked Popovich what, exactly, is the system.
Pop suspiciously looked both ways, leaned close then whispered: "It's a secret." Then he busted out laughing.
"No," he chortled, "every team has a system. Ours isn't any better than anybody else's. Every team, every coach has a system, how they manage, how they coach, what the guys do on and off the court. [What we do] is not very different from anybody else. There's no team that's going to say, 'We try to hold the ball as much as possible,' or, 'We're selfish.' It's hard to describe I guess."
If you believe Pop, the Spurs are just doing what everyone else does. But something must be different, right? How else do you explain their excellence?
"I think mostly the system is about consistency," Popovich expounded. "Our system more than anything is just persistent and consistent with a defensive emphasis. We don't talk about how many games we're going to win, winning a division, winning a championship, none of that stuff. No goals, none like that. Our goal is to get better every day, to practice every day, to treat the game with respect. If we can come out every practice and every game, learning something that we did well or that we did poorly, we can go from there. And then, you know, the way you handle players off the court or around the court that's just an individual thing with every team."
But there, too, the Spurs do things a little differently. "Everybody gets treated the same way -- if you screw up, you're going to get yelled at, and that means everybody from Tim Duncan to the guys on the injured reserve," said reserve forward Tony Massenburg, who's played for a dozen NBA franchises. "That sends a message that it's all about doing things the right way around here. A lot of franchises don't practice that, unfortunately. They select certain people who can do no wrong and have certain people that can't do anything right."
Both Pop and Spurs GM R.C. Buford are quick to point out that they're able to have a star-less system because of their biggest star, Duncan. The best players on other teams might feel as though they deserve to be treated differently than everyone else. Not Duncan.
"Well, that's just the way I am," Duncan explained. "That's what's been instilled in me from the get-go. I've had some great coaches coming up along the way, and I think the biggest thing about that is when you get to the point where someone doesn't want to yell at you or tell you what you're doing wrong, you're the worst for it. So Pop is equal opportunity with that and we like it that way."
And then there's the city of San Antonio. Even on a Wednesday night against the lowly Raptors, nearly 18,000 showed up to root for the only major league team in town -- though Duncan dutifully pointed out the Silver Stars of the WNBA are also there. "San Antonio isn't really a small town," noted Manu Ginobili, "but it has the spirit of a small town."
Put the whole package together, and it's a slice of basketball heaven: a winning franchise in a town that appreciates it. And with their thrilling mix of skill (Duncan), speed (Tony Parker), defense (Bruce Bowen), moxie (Ginobili), depth (the recently added Nazr Mohammed) and brains (Popovich), it says here the good folks of San Antonio better get ready for another ticker-tape parade this summer.