duncan228
01-23-2011, 09:36 PM
Game is Monday, 9:30 CST.
A little love from the San Jose Mercury News.
Monte Poole: Spurs succeed without the glitz and headlines (http://www.mercurynews.com/sports-headlines/ci_17177832?nclick_check=1)
Wildly successful Spurs are bland everywhere but win column (http://www.mercurynews.com/warriors/ci_17178357)
By Monte Poole
Oakland Tribune columnist
The San Antonio Spurs come to Oakland Monday night. If you've been anticipating this moment, you're not of this generation.
That's OK, for neither are the Spurs.
In this age of TMZ and tabloid journalism, they are the network nightly news.
In the era of YouTube and reality TV, where talent is not a requirement for glory, they are a nightly documentary.
In a world addicted to fortified drinks and Facebook, the Spurs are three squares a day, a good book at night and eight hours of sleep.
In a neon nation, they're a bland shade of beige -- which explains why the enduring excellence of these four-time champions is so, well, under cover.
NBA headlines and highlights this season have gone to Kobe and the Hollywood Lakers, to the South Beach "Heatles" or the Last Chance Celtics. The constant chatter is about Blake Griffin's last dunk or Carmelo Anthony's next team, about Amare Stoudemire resurrecting the Knicks or Derrick Rose reviving the Bulls.
Meanwhile, San Antonio has the league's best record. The Spurs are 36-7, on pace to win 70 games.
The Spurs won't get to 70, though, because that would be too gaudy. That would create a stir, invite too much attention. Winning 70 might make the Spurs kind of like "... stars.
Their coach, whose name remains one of the most misspelled in sports despite trailing only Phil Jackson for championships among active coaches, wants no such thing. Gregg "Three g's" Popovich is stubborn enough and practical enough to sacrifice a few late-season wins if it will keep his team fresh for the postseason.
And Pop's most significant player, who remains one of the least publicized in sports despite 13-plus peerless seasons, wants whatever his coach wants.
Because that, friends, has put Tim Duncan at the doorstep of the Hall of Fame.
Popovich and Duncan to the NBA are like vegetable platters at a full buffet, well intended but barely noticed. They are the primary reasons why San Antonio, the model American franchise, top to bottom, in sports or out, is relegated to the tiniest corner of the league's marquee.
That's how it is and that's how the Spurs like it.
They've made 30 playoff appearances in 34 seasons, including 13 in a row, and own the NBA's best record over the last decade. No team in sports is more accustomed to and comfortable with winning in obscurity, maintaining elite status in a vacuum.
Yet when it comes to glorification, they are content to exist on "mute." It's as if their championship trophies are hidden in the back of the closet.
You can go to any city in the world and find Yankees fans and Lakers fans. You can walk into any mall in America and find Steelers fans and Red Sox fans and Raiders fans. Good luck finding a Spurs fan outside greater San Antonio.
They're neither loved nor hated. Reaction to the Spurs tends to be respectful indifference or tepid appreciation. This was true when they were winning championships in 1999 and 2003 and 2005 and 2007, and it's no different in 2011.
Just when it seemed the Spurs would be too old to keep up with today's NBA, much less have a chance to conquer it, they're reminding us they're still current and dangerous. They're kicking butt from coast-to-coast on a regular basis.
Though some believe Popovich is a lucky beneficiary of Duncan's metronomic effectiveness, the coach -- with tremendous assistance from his front office -- is doing a marvelous job of rebutting that claim. These Spurs are winning because they have continuity at the top and because they have a knack for discovering the right role players.
They don't have a 20-point scorer or anyone grabbing 10 rebounds a game or anyone who wound rank among the top three at his position. Not point guard Tony Parker, not wings Manu Ginobili and Richard Jefferson -- not even Duncan, who at this stage of his career averages 29 minutes per game.
But DeJuan Blair, a second-round draft choice in 2008, produces like a lottery pick, itinerant vets Antonio McDyess and Matt Bonner are stable and productive, and unheralded youngsters George Hill, Gary Neal and James Anderson keep feeding the machine.
The faces on the floor change -- we remember Bruce Bowen and Brent Barry and, yes, Stephen Jackson -- but the results stay the same.
With Duncan turning 35 in April and Ginobili 33, this team's window should be closing. But the Spurs concede nothing. They simply keep going.
They will stroll into Oracle Arena Monday night seeking their 11th straight win -- and 46th in 53 games -- over the Warriors. Step right up to see a team that has perfected the art of workaday winning.
http://www.mercurynews.com/sports-headlines/ci_17177832?nclick_check=1
A little love from the San Jose Mercury News.
Monte Poole: Spurs succeed without the glitz and headlines (http://www.mercurynews.com/sports-headlines/ci_17177832?nclick_check=1)
Wildly successful Spurs are bland everywhere but win column (http://www.mercurynews.com/warriors/ci_17178357)
By Monte Poole
Oakland Tribune columnist
The San Antonio Spurs come to Oakland Monday night. If you've been anticipating this moment, you're not of this generation.
That's OK, for neither are the Spurs.
In this age of TMZ and tabloid journalism, they are the network nightly news.
In the era of YouTube and reality TV, where talent is not a requirement for glory, they are a nightly documentary.
In a world addicted to fortified drinks and Facebook, the Spurs are three squares a day, a good book at night and eight hours of sleep.
In a neon nation, they're a bland shade of beige -- which explains why the enduring excellence of these four-time champions is so, well, under cover.
NBA headlines and highlights this season have gone to Kobe and the Hollywood Lakers, to the South Beach "Heatles" or the Last Chance Celtics. The constant chatter is about Blake Griffin's last dunk or Carmelo Anthony's next team, about Amare Stoudemire resurrecting the Knicks or Derrick Rose reviving the Bulls.
Meanwhile, San Antonio has the league's best record. The Spurs are 36-7, on pace to win 70 games.
The Spurs won't get to 70, though, because that would be too gaudy. That would create a stir, invite too much attention. Winning 70 might make the Spurs kind of like "... stars.
Their coach, whose name remains one of the most misspelled in sports despite trailing only Phil Jackson for championships among active coaches, wants no such thing. Gregg "Three g's" Popovich is stubborn enough and practical enough to sacrifice a few late-season wins if it will keep his team fresh for the postseason.
And Pop's most significant player, who remains one of the least publicized in sports despite 13-plus peerless seasons, wants whatever his coach wants.
Because that, friends, has put Tim Duncan at the doorstep of the Hall of Fame.
Popovich and Duncan to the NBA are like vegetable platters at a full buffet, well intended but barely noticed. They are the primary reasons why San Antonio, the model American franchise, top to bottom, in sports or out, is relegated to the tiniest corner of the league's marquee.
That's how it is and that's how the Spurs like it.
They've made 30 playoff appearances in 34 seasons, including 13 in a row, and own the NBA's best record over the last decade. No team in sports is more accustomed to and comfortable with winning in obscurity, maintaining elite status in a vacuum.
Yet when it comes to glorification, they are content to exist on "mute." It's as if their championship trophies are hidden in the back of the closet.
You can go to any city in the world and find Yankees fans and Lakers fans. You can walk into any mall in America and find Steelers fans and Red Sox fans and Raiders fans. Good luck finding a Spurs fan outside greater San Antonio.
They're neither loved nor hated. Reaction to the Spurs tends to be respectful indifference or tepid appreciation. This was true when they were winning championships in 1999 and 2003 and 2005 and 2007, and it's no different in 2011.
Just when it seemed the Spurs would be too old to keep up with today's NBA, much less have a chance to conquer it, they're reminding us they're still current and dangerous. They're kicking butt from coast-to-coast on a regular basis.
Though some believe Popovich is a lucky beneficiary of Duncan's metronomic effectiveness, the coach -- with tremendous assistance from his front office -- is doing a marvelous job of rebutting that claim. These Spurs are winning because they have continuity at the top and because they have a knack for discovering the right role players.
They don't have a 20-point scorer or anyone grabbing 10 rebounds a game or anyone who wound rank among the top three at his position. Not point guard Tony Parker, not wings Manu Ginobili and Richard Jefferson -- not even Duncan, who at this stage of his career averages 29 minutes per game.
But DeJuan Blair, a second-round draft choice in 2008, produces like a lottery pick, itinerant vets Antonio McDyess and Matt Bonner are stable and productive, and unheralded youngsters George Hill, Gary Neal and James Anderson keep feeding the machine.
The faces on the floor change -- we remember Bruce Bowen and Brent Barry and, yes, Stephen Jackson -- but the results stay the same.
With Duncan turning 35 in April and Ginobili 33, this team's window should be closing. But the Spurs concede nothing. They simply keep going.
They will stroll into Oracle Arena Monday night seeking their 11th straight win -- and 46th in 53 games -- over the Warriors. Step right up to see a team that has perfected the art of workaday winning.
http://www.mercurynews.com/sports-headlines/ci_17177832?nclick_check=1