duncan228
02-28-2009, 10:47 PM
Horry as a Joe: A likely end to the run (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Horry_as_a_Joe_A_likely_end_to_the_run.html)
Buck Harvey
Robert Horry is busy this week. He leaves Friday to join a team that includes Pacman Jones.
“Not bad money,” Horry said, laughing.
Not as bad as it sounds, either. The Spike TV reality show, “Pros vs. Joes,” has included the Pacmans, Cansecos and Rodmans. But among the past participants, according to the show's Web site, are those with normal brain patterns, such as Sean Elliott and Jerry Rice.
So Horry will be busy this week working a television gig, and he will be matched against a Joe.
When he should still be matched against a pro.
There's an outside chance Horry eventually will be. In fact, his chances increase starting tonight.
Any NBA player who is released by 11 p.m. can be added to another roster and then be eligible for the playoffs. Oklahoma City, for example, might come to a buyout compromise with veteran Joe Smith. The Thunder would have saved some money, and Smith would be free to sign with another team.
Cleveland could then sign Smith, and the Cavaliers have motivation. They just lost Ben Wallace.
Still, there aren't many of these situations out there. Once this deadline passes, then the options are even fewer. Only those players without ties to another team would be eligible for the playoffs.
Horry will be one, but he's not sure he would jump at any offer. “Pros vs. Joes” has nothing to do with this; surely Pacman would understand if Horry had to cancel.
Instead, Horry says he would be hesitant to join a roster he doesn't know, as well as one that has won and lost together for the majority of the season without him.
“I'm the type of person,” he said, “if Cleveland called me, I wouldn't feel right. The other guys would have already put in so much time, and I'd be coming in late, enjoying the fruits of their labor.”
And if the Spurs called?
“Oh, I'd play with them,” he said.
Upon retirement, Horry said he probably will consider himself a Laker at heart. He spent more time in Los Angeles, and he won three titles there.
But he also says that fourth quarter against Detroit in the 2005 Finals stands out above all others for him personally. Furthermore, he says he enjoyed his time in San Antonio the most.
“Great guys, funny guys. I loved being around them.”
Rejoining them now, he says, would be easy.
The Spurs' brass has continued to include Horry in the discussion during the season. And if Matt Bonner had failed, then who knows? Maybe Horry already would be back, extending his streak of never missing the playoffs.
But that's just one team. Why hasn't another called to check on Horry?
Horry says not having an agent probably hasn't helped. Still, he chooses to blame this on something else.
“The NBA is so trendy,” he said. “People get in their heads they want a youth movement. Back in the day, it was cool to have veterans. Now we're like dinosaurs.”
More likely, this is about a specific dinosaur. The Spurs would have lived with Horry being a step slower at 38, since he's such a smart player. But he shot less than 26 percent from 3-point range last season, his lowest total in a decade.
Bonner, in contrast, leads the league in that category.
Still, it's never been about how many Horry made. It's been when, and eventually Bonner will face the same test in Phoenix or Denver or Los Angeles this spring.
Horry often came through, and he did last season in Game 7 in New Orleans. Then he threw in two 3-pointers and helped the Spurs win.
How many bench players can do that, on the road, in a pressure game? How many contenders already have a 12th man with this kind of history?
The Hornets, coincidentally, don't.
But Horry has yet to hear from any team, at any time this season, despite having played in more NBA playoff games than anyone. And if today's deadline passes, and if not one general manager sees how someone with cunning and nerve could help in a pinch, then the career of one of the league's greatest playoff performers will head in another direction.
Toward Pacman.
Buck Harvey
Robert Horry is busy this week. He leaves Friday to join a team that includes Pacman Jones.
“Not bad money,” Horry said, laughing.
Not as bad as it sounds, either. The Spike TV reality show, “Pros vs. Joes,” has included the Pacmans, Cansecos and Rodmans. But among the past participants, according to the show's Web site, are those with normal brain patterns, such as Sean Elliott and Jerry Rice.
So Horry will be busy this week working a television gig, and he will be matched against a Joe.
When he should still be matched against a pro.
There's an outside chance Horry eventually will be. In fact, his chances increase starting tonight.
Any NBA player who is released by 11 p.m. can be added to another roster and then be eligible for the playoffs. Oklahoma City, for example, might come to a buyout compromise with veteran Joe Smith. The Thunder would have saved some money, and Smith would be free to sign with another team.
Cleveland could then sign Smith, and the Cavaliers have motivation. They just lost Ben Wallace.
Still, there aren't many of these situations out there. Once this deadline passes, then the options are even fewer. Only those players without ties to another team would be eligible for the playoffs.
Horry will be one, but he's not sure he would jump at any offer. “Pros vs. Joes” has nothing to do with this; surely Pacman would understand if Horry had to cancel.
Instead, Horry says he would be hesitant to join a roster he doesn't know, as well as one that has won and lost together for the majority of the season without him.
“I'm the type of person,” he said, “if Cleveland called me, I wouldn't feel right. The other guys would have already put in so much time, and I'd be coming in late, enjoying the fruits of their labor.”
And if the Spurs called?
“Oh, I'd play with them,” he said.
Upon retirement, Horry said he probably will consider himself a Laker at heart. He spent more time in Los Angeles, and he won three titles there.
But he also says that fourth quarter against Detroit in the 2005 Finals stands out above all others for him personally. Furthermore, he says he enjoyed his time in San Antonio the most.
“Great guys, funny guys. I loved being around them.”
Rejoining them now, he says, would be easy.
The Spurs' brass has continued to include Horry in the discussion during the season. And if Matt Bonner had failed, then who knows? Maybe Horry already would be back, extending his streak of never missing the playoffs.
But that's just one team. Why hasn't another called to check on Horry?
Horry says not having an agent probably hasn't helped. Still, he chooses to blame this on something else.
“The NBA is so trendy,” he said. “People get in their heads they want a youth movement. Back in the day, it was cool to have veterans. Now we're like dinosaurs.”
More likely, this is about a specific dinosaur. The Spurs would have lived with Horry being a step slower at 38, since he's such a smart player. But he shot less than 26 percent from 3-point range last season, his lowest total in a decade.
Bonner, in contrast, leads the league in that category.
Still, it's never been about how many Horry made. It's been when, and eventually Bonner will face the same test in Phoenix or Denver or Los Angeles this spring.
Horry often came through, and he did last season in Game 7 in New Orleans. Then he threw in two 3-pointers and helped the Spurs win.
How many bench players can do that, on the road, in a pressure game? How many contenders already have a 12th man with this kind of history?
The Hornets, coincidentally, don't.
But Horry has yet to hear from any team, at any time this season, despite having played in more NBA playoff games than anyone. And if today's deadline passes, and if not one general manager sees how someone with cunning and nerve could help in a pinch, then the career of one of the league's greatest playoff performers will head in another direction.
Toward Pacman.