Jimcs50
06-08-2005, 07:55 AM
June 8, 2005, 12:17AM
Spurs don't need flash to win titles
There's more to team's success than getting lucky in lottery twice
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
SAN ANTONIO - The Spurs' first championship had been freshly won when Mike D'Antoni landed a job as a San Antonio scout.
These were the Spurs of David Robinson and Avery Johnson, of a second-year superstar, Tim Duncan, and a crew cut of a coach, Gregg Popovich.
D'Antoni already had collected the experiences of a basketball gypsy — as a player in the NBA and Europe, in management and even briefly as the coach of the Nuggets — when he made it to San Antonio. He stayed for one season, not quite long enough to leave a footprint. But he was there long enough to see and even to feel the Spurs' way.
"The only thing you take away is just their professionalism, how they go about it," said D'Antoni, now coach of the Phoenix Suns. "What you really take away (is), 'Boy, I wish I was there in that situation.' "
But you don't have to be on the inside, as D'Antoni was, to see it. By now, with the Spurs to chase their third championship in seven seasons when the NBA Finals begin Thursday in San Antonio, there is a manner to the Spurs, an approach that permeates the organization, a way of thinking and working and performing that every team seeks.
More than recipients of the good fortune to win the lotteries that brought Robinson in the 1987 NBA draft and Duncan in the 1997 draft, the Spurs have gone beyond that to build a franchise that in many ways has become the NBA's standard.
The players around Duncan have changed since 1999. Robinson retired after the second championship in 2003. Johnson is the Mavericks coach. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, the young stars who help Duncan drive the Spurs, are flashier, more volatile talents than their predecessors. But there remains a Spurs way.
"It's about being good guys who have their priorities set and who aren't full of themselves and have gotten over themselves a long time ago," Popovich said. "They understand that coming to work is a responsibility and a duty ... they get paid for."
It's not that the Spurs dislike all the praise coming their way. But they don't really seem to like it, either. Celebrity and acclaim to them is like signing autographs, kind of cool at first but quickly irrelevant to everything else.
"We don't care," Popovich said. "As a team, we are what we are. We hope we're doing things right. We hope we're not screwing it up, but we don't spend any time being something that we're not."
Stars set example
What the Spurs are is all about the basketball. They are the team in black and white, playing in an arena that looks like a corrugated steel warehouse. But from the acquisition and influence of Robinson to the like-minded determination of Duncan, there has been a devotion to simple, unadorned excellence.
"Your best players set the tone for your whole team," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said in one of his frequent sessions marveling at the Spurs. "How they work, how they practice, how they prepare, if they hit the floor. If they defend, others will defend. If they pass, others will pass. If they practice hard, others will practice hard.
"That's why San Antonio has gotten better and better. They're whole thing starts with Gregg being an unbelievable coach and Duncan stands for everything you want your best player to stand for." :smokin
Because of a tone set in stone, the Spurs do not necessarily look only for players who fit the mold. But the Spurs have the luxury of knowing that anyone added to the mix will be expected to have the same priorities.
"We look for talent like everybody else," Popovich said. "Once you think you have the right amount of talent, if given two choices ... equally talented but one person seems to be more team oriented or ... (has) gotten over themselves, we would rather have that person not interested in the junk but (who) just wants to play and go home."
That's pretty much all the Spurs have done in Popovich's tenure. Popovich leads all active coaches with a .634 winning percentage in the postseason, third all-time behind Phil Jackson and Butch van Breda Kolff (who coached the Lakers from 1967-69) with a minimum of 25 games.
In Duncan's eight seasons, the Spurs' 438-186 record and .706 winning percentage is not only the best in basketball, it's better than any team in the NBA, NHL, NFL or Major League Baseball in that span.
Impressive numbers
The Spurs have had the NBA's best record three times and won their division five times in those eight seasons. Since joining the NBA in 1976, the Spurs have reached the playoffs in 25 of 29 seasons, building the fourth-best playoff winning percentage (.530) in NBA history, behind only the dynasties of the Lakers, Celtics and Bulls.
The Spurs' lottery luck of Robinson and Duncan cannot be discounted, but there have been other successes. The Spurs were ahead of the trend in drafting international players as investments when they took Ginobili with the 57th pick of the 1999 draft. As often as general manager R.C. Buford said he did not know what he was getting when he selected Ginobili, he soon knew enough to make him a key to his plans, dealing another prospect at the position, Gordan Giricek.
The Spurs selected Parker with the 28th pick of the 2001 draft then picked up his backup, Beno Udrih, at the end of last June's first round. This season, they traded the backup to Duncan's backup, Malik Rose, to get their starting center, Nazr Mohammed.
As soon as next season, the Spurs could be ready to add Ginobili's teammate on the Argentina Olympic team, forward Luis Scola, whom the Spurs took in the 2002 second round, to begin preparing him to succeed Robert Horry.
But with Duncan just 29, Ginobili 27 and Parker 23, there is a sense the Spurs could win a championship this month and not be their best.
Either way, they are four wins from a championship and never seem far from one.
[email protected]
The Spurs are the winningest team in the NBA since Tim Duncan joined them in 1997:
Team W-L Pct.
Spurs 438-186 .702
Lakers 413-211 .662
Pacers 383-241 .614
Kings 378-246 .606
T-Wolves 370-254 .593
Spurs don't need flash to win titles
There's more to team's success than getting lucky in lottery twice
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
SAN ANTONIO - The Spurs' first championship had been freshly won when Mike D'Antoni landed a job as a San Antonio scout.
These were the Spurs of David Robinson and Avery Johnson, of a second-year superstar, Tim Duncan, and a crew cut of a coach, Gregg Popovich.
D'Antoni already had collected the experiences of a basketball gypsy — as a player in the NBA and Europe, in management and even briefly as the coach of the Nuggets — when he made it to San Antonio. He stayed for one season, not quite long enough to leave a footprint. But he was there long enough to see and even to feel the Spurs' way.
"The only thing you take away is just their professionalism, how they go about it," said D'Antoni, now coach of the Phoenix Suns. "What you really take away (is), 'Boy, I wish I was there in that situation.' "
But you don't have to be on the inside, as D'Antoni was, to see it. By now, with the Spurs to chase their third championship in seven seasons when the NBA Finals begin Thursday in San Antonio, there is a manner to the Spurs, an approach that permeates the organization, a way of thinking and working and performing that every team seeks.
More than recipients of the good fortune to win the lotteries that brought Robinson in the 1987 NBA draft and Duncan in the 1997 draft, the Spurs have gone beyond that to build a franchise that in many ways has become the NBA's standard.
The players around Duncan have changed since 1999. Robinson retired after the second championship in 2003. Johnson is the Mavericks coach. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, the young stars who help Duncan drive the Spurs, are flashier, more volatile talents than their predecessors. But there remains a Spurs way.
"It's about being good guys who have their priorities set and who aren't full of themselves and have gotten over themselves a long time ago," Popovich said. "They understand that coming to work is a responsibility and a duty ... they get paid for."
It's not that the Spurs dislike all the praise coming their way. But they don't really seem to like it, either. Celebrity and acclaim to them is like signing autographs, kind of cool at first but quickly irrelevant to everything else.
"We don't care," Popovich said. "As a team, we are what we are. We hope we're doing things right. We hope we're not screwing it up, but we don't spend any time being something that we're not."
Stars set example
What the Spurs are is all about the basketball. They are the team in black and white, playing in an arena that looks like a corrugated steel warehouse. But from the acquisition and influence of Robinson to the like-minded determination of Duncan, there has been a devotion to simple, unadorned excellence.
"Your best players set the tone for your whole team," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said in one of his frequent sessions marveling at the Spurs. "How they work, how they practice, how they prepare, if they hit the floor. If they defend, others will defend. If they pass, others will pass. If they practice hard, others will practice hard.
"That's why San Antonio has gotten better and better. They're whole thing starts with Gregg being an unbelievable coach and Duncan stands for everything you want your best player to stand for." :smokin
Because of a tone set in stone, the Spurs do not necessarily look only for players who fit the mold. But the Spurs have the luxury of knowing that anyone added to the mix will be expected to have the same priorities.
"We look for talent like everybody else," Popovich said. "Once you think you have the right amount of talent, if given two choices ... equally talented but one person seems to be more team oriented or ... (has) gotten over themselves, we would rather have that person not interested in the junk but (who) just wants to play and go home."
That's pretty much all the Spurs have done in Popovich's tenure. Popovich leads all active coaches with a .634 winning percentage in the postseason, third all-time behind Phil Jackson and Butch van Breda Kolff (who coached the Lakers from 1967-69) with a minimum of 25 games.
In Duncan's eight seasons, the Spurs' 438-186 record and .706 winning percentage is not only the best in basketball, it's better than any team in the NBA, NHL, NFL or Major League Baseball in that span.
Impressive numbers
The Spurs have had the NBA's best record three times and won their division five times in those eight seasons. Since joining the NBA in 1976, the Spurs have reached the playoffs in 25 of 29 seasons, building the fourth-best playoff winning percentage (.530) in NBA history, behind only the dynasties of the Lakers, Celtics and Bulls.
The Spurs' lottery luck of Robinson and Duncan cannot be discounted, but there have been other successes. The Spurs were ahead of the trend in drafting international players as investments when they took Ginobili with the 57th pick of the 1999 draft. As often as general manager R.C. Buford said he did not know what he was getting when he selected Ginobili, he soon knew enough to make him a key to his plans, dealing another prospect at the position, Gordan Giricek.
The Spurs selected Parker with the 28th pick of the 2001 draft then picked up his backup, Beno Udrih, at the end of last June's first round. This season, they traded the backup to Duncan's backup, Malik Rose, to get their starting center, Nazr Mohammed.
As soon as next season, the Spurs could be ready to add Ginobili's teammate on the Argentina Olympic team, forward Luis Scola, whom the Spurs took in the 2002 second round, to begin preparing him to succeed Robert Horry.
But with Duncan just 29, Ginobili 27 and Parker 23, there is a sense the Spurs could win a championship this month and not be their best.
Either way, they are four wins from a championship and never seem far from one.
[email protected]
The Spurs are the winningest team in the NBA since Tim Duncan joined them in 1997:
Team W-L Pct.
Spurs 438-186 .702
Lakers 413-211 .662
Pacers 383-241 .614
Kings 378-246 .606
T-Wolves 370-254 .593