Dex
08-27-2009, 02:51 PM
Popovich ready to play with new toys
By Jeff McDonald - Express-News
Web Posted: 08/26/2009 12:00 CDT
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich spent much of his summer vacationing in Maine, as far away from the record San Antonio heat as he could get without leaving the lower 48 states.
He also enjoyed a working barnstorm through Europe, hitting France, Italy, Germany and Spain on a reconnaissance mission. He even spent a few days in Las Vegas, watching the Spurs' young summer league squad.
All along, Popovich wished his offseason were shorter, that it hadn't begun in April after a first-round playoff loss against Dallas. Now, he's wishing it were over completely.
After the most eventful summer of his San Antonio tenure, Popovich is ready to get back to work.
“You can only relax so much,” Popovich said during an informal fat-chewing session with reporters Tuesday at the Spurs' Northwest-side headquarters. “You can only chase players so much. My stomach is starting to churn. I'm getting anxious.”
In a sense, Popovich is like a kid at Christmas brunch. His new toys have been unwrapped. He is eager to start playing with them.
Training camp doesn't begin for another month, but the wheels have already begun to turn in Popovich's head — the neat tricks he can try with his new athletic swingman, Richard Jefferson; the new offensive elements veteran forward Antonio McDyess can bring; the raw rebounding potential inside rookie forward DeJuan Blair, waiting to be unleashed.
When the Spurs open the season Oct. 28 against New Orleans, they could boast as many as eight new faces.
“We're calling it ‘change the music,' Popovich said. “We'll come to camp with a few different faces, a different chemistry, a little bit different team personality. We'll see how that comes together.”
In a relatively quiet NBA offseason, the Spurs made arguably the most noise. If they hoped to remain among the NBA's elite, to keep the L.A. Lakers and others from running too far away from the Western Conference pack, it was noise that was necessary.
Popovich and general manager R.C. Buford told team owner Peter Holt as much, in a meeting not long after the Dallas disaster.
In order to keep the Spurs competitive in the waning years of the Tim Duncan era, they told Holt the team needed to get younger and more athletic. And to accomplish that, Holt was going to have to open up the checkbook like never before.
“He decided we were going to have to spend money like we usually don't,” Popovich said.
The pricetag for the Spurs' offseason makeover — which brought in Jefferson by trade, McDyess and veteran center Theo Ratliff via free agency and Blair, an All-American from Pittsburgh, via second-round draft pick — pushed the Spurs deeper into luxury tax territory than they'd ever been.
“The face of the league has changed significantly over the last two years,” Popovich said. “We hung in there as long as we could. Now, we're going to have to spend money like some other people.”
Holt has certainly done his part, signing off on the mega-expensive renovation project (“He took a little bit out of all of our paychecks,” Popovich quipped). It will be up to Popovich to help make sure the spending spree pays off.
After an offseason of rebuilding, the Spurs are thinking NBA title once again. Popovich won't label his reinvigorated team the team to beat in the West, not with Kobe Bryant and the defending champion Lakers still on the prowl.
Still, as Popovich told NBA.com earlier this summer, with tongue planted in cheek: “If we don't win it, I should probably be fired.”
The work toward that end begins in earnest when training camp begins Sept. 29. Until then, Popovich has about a month of offseason left to let the butterflies fester
Just lending 228 a helping hand. :toast
By Jeff McDonald - Express-News
Web Posted: 08/26/2009 12:00 CDT
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich spent much of his summer vacationing in Maine, as far away from the record San Antonio heat as he could get without leaving the lower 48 states.
He also enjoyed a working barnstorm through Europe, hitting France, Italy, Germany and Spain on a reconnaissance mission. He even spent a few days in Las Vegas, watching the Spurs' young summer league squad.
All along, Popovich wished his offseason were shorter, that it hadn't begun in April after a first-round playoff loss against Dallas. Now, he's wishing it were over completely.
After the most eventful summer of his San Antonio tenure, Popovich is ready to get back to work.
“You can only relax so much,” Popovich said during an informal fat-chewing session with reporters Tuesday at the Spurs' Northwest-side headquarters. “You can only chase players so much. My stomach is starting to churn. I'm getting anxious.”
In a sense, Popovich is like a kid at Christmas brunch. His new toys have been unwrapped. He is eager to start playing with them.
Training camp doesn't begin for another month, but the wheels have already begun to turn in Popovich's head — the neat tricks he can try with his new athletic swingman, Richard Jefferson; the new offensive elements veteran forward Antonio McDyess can bring; the raw rebounding potential inside rookie forward DeJuan Blair, waiting to be unleashed.
When the Spurs open the season Oct. 28 against New Orleans, they could boast as many as eight new faces.
“We're calling it ‘change the music,' Popovich said. “We'll come to camp with a few different faces, a different chemistry, a little bit different team personality. We'll see how that comes together.”
In a relatively quiet NBA offseason, the Spurs made arguably the most noise. If they hoped to remain among the NBA's elite, to keep the L.A. Lakers and others from running too far away from the Western Conference pack, it was noise that was necessary.
Popovich and general manager R.C. Buford told team owner Peter Holt as much, in a meeting not long after the Dallas disaster.
In order to keep the Spurs competitive in the waning years of the Tim Duncan era, they told Holt the team needed to get younger and more athletic. And to accomplish that, Holt was going to have to open up the checkbook like never before.
“He decided we were going to have to spend money like we usually don't,” Popovich said.
The pricetag for the Spurs' offseason makeover — which brought in Jefferson by trade, McDyess and veteran center Theo Ratliff via free agency and Blair, an All-American from Pittsburgh, via second-round draft pick — pushed the Spurs deeper into luxury tax territory than they'd ever been.
“The face of the league has changed significantly over the last two years,” Popovich said. “We hung in there as long as we could. Now, we're going to have to spend money like some other people.”
Holt has certainly done his part, signing off on the mega-expensive renovation project (“He took a little bit out of all of our paychecks,” Popovich quipped). It will be up to Popovich to help make sure the spending spree pays off.
After an offseason of rebuilding, the Spurs are thinking NBA title once again. Popovich won't label his reinvigorated team the team to beat in the West, not with Kobe Bryant and the defending champion Lakers still on the prowl.
Still, as Popovich told NBA.com earlier this summer, with tongue planted in cheek: “If we don't win it, I should probably be fired.”
The work toward that end begins in earnest when training camp begins Sept. 29. Until then, Popovich has about a month of offseason left to let the butterflies fester
Just lending 228 a helping hand. :toast