Jimcs50
06-11-2005, 09:09 AM
June 10, 2005, 11:44PM
Spurs setting the standard for diversity
By JOHN P. LOPEZ
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
SAN ANTONIO — Occasionally, certain things still are lost in translation
Like when Spurs coach Gregg Popovich tried to loosen up his culturally diverse team before Game 1 of the NBA Finals, joking about having a team spelling bee.
Mastering the English language has been a running joke within the Spurs' locker room.
And why would it not be? Listing the nationalities of the Spurs roster is like the start of a bad joke: "Two Slovenians, an Argentine and a Frenchman walk into a bar."
And that's not to mention the Angolan and Cameroonian who were in Spurs camp, Tim Duncan's U.S. Virgin Island roots, the Croat and the other Argentine waiting in the wings or that Bruce Bowen is from one of the most desolate places of all — Fresno, Calif.
Pick a language
Depending on who is talking to whom, variations of at least six languages can be spoken among the Spurs.
"You end up learning languages from everybody," Argentine wing Manu Ginobili said. "Tony (Parker) was speaking with (former teammate Romain) Sato in French. Rasho (Nesterovic) to me in Italian, Rasho and Beno (Udrih) in Slovenian. Pop last year spoke some words to (Hedo) Turkoglu (now with Orlando) in Turkish, and talks Russian (to Nesterovic) ... you have a lot of different things in there."
Hence, the occasional butchered dialogue.
"Somebody was addressing the team one day and referred to, 'veteranism,' " Popovich said. "About six guys looked at each other (trying not to laugh)."
Thus, before Game 1, Popovich devised a strategery for easing the pressure of the Finals.
"Every time somebody says something that's not really a word, it turns into this spelling bee thing," Popovich said. "I told them we were going to have a spelling bee. Manu was like, 'Spelling? bees? Where are the bees?'
"So we had to explain to him what a spelling bee was. Things like that happen."
A fine mixture
They laugh and kid about it. They chop up each other's languages and cut each other down — Duncan talking about the size of Ginobili's nose, everyone kidding Robert Horry, a Will Smith look-alike, about doing the pregame show for Game 1.
How do you make a champion? You throw it all into a melting pot and let the flavors mix.
And because of the Spurs' success, the pot never has been quite so stirred all over the league. It is impossible not to notice how fluidly the parts can fit and how much things have changed.
Reputations and myths about foreign players are being broken with every game the Spurs win in their unselfish ways and internationally flavored style.
For years, more foreign-born players missed than hit. They earned reputations for arriving to the NBA out of shape, being weak defensively and unathletic.
The first time Popovich brought in a foreign-born player was Serbia's Zarko Paspalj in 1989 when Popovich was a Spurs assistant. But he couldn't argue with two of then-coach Larry Brown's reasons for wanting to release Paspalj. He couldn't play and was a chain-smoker.
But with a third NBA championship in seven years perhaps on the way in large part because of a lightning-quick point guard in Parker and a daring, defensively brilliant wing in Ginobili, some are begrudgingly admitting foreign players can be integral parts. Even superstars.
But note that we say some.
One day after Ginobili blistered the Pistons for 15 fourth-quarter points, single-handedly stealing the show as if Manu Ginobili is Spanish for Michael Jordan, Rasheed Wallace was asked about the Spurs wing.
Wallace hesitantly blurted: "He's all right. Ain't nothing too special about the kid."
For years, that kind of reluctant, backhanded praise is what foreign players faced. Frankly, the NBA's best players were conceited and often resentful, even Jordan and Scottie Pippen never fully accepted Toni Kukoc in Chicago.
But until recently, few foreign players did much to dispel myths.
There were the exceptions with Arvydas Sabonis, Vlade Divac and Peja Stojakovic earning legitimate accolades, but even they were more prototypical Europeans — shooters and mostly finesse players hardly known for defense. The best guard and all-around player might have been Drazen Petrovic, a Serb who died in a car accident in his prime in 1993.
Otherwise, an assortment of thick-legged, slow-footed Europeans with skill but little defensive ability came and went, giving NBA presidents and GMs little reason to look beyond American borders.
There was Dino Radja, highly skilled, but ultimately overwhelmed and oft-injured by the physical NBA. There was Kukoc, overpaid and more about news clippings than production.
Then came Germany's Dirk Nowitzki, Lithuania's Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Spain's Pau Gasol and, of course, China's Yao Ming. These guys could play. But win come playoff time?
The Spurs were the first to prove it. They turned their entire backcourt over to foreign-born players, including the critical point guard spot. They found the best defensive player to arrive from a foreign land in Ginobili.
They have made it impossible to ignore that championships can be won with talent from abroad playing vital roles.
Unless you're Rasheed Wallace. Translation: You're in denial.
Spurs setting the standard for diversity
By JOHN P. LOPEZ
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
SAN ANTONIO — Occasionally, certain things still are lost in translation
Like when Spurs coach Gregg Popovich tried to loosen up his culturally diverse team before Game 1 of the NBA Finals, joking about having a team spelling bee.
Mastering the English language has been a running joke within the Spurs' locker room.
And why would it not be? Listing the nationalities of the Spurs roster is like the start of a bad joke: "Two Slovenians, an Argentine and a Frenchman walk into a bar."
And that's not to mention the Angolan and Cameroonian who were in Spurs camp, Tim Duncan's U.S. Virgin Island roots, the Croat and the other Argentine waiting in the wings or that Bruce Bowen is from one of the most desolate places of all — Fresno, Calif.
Pick a language
Depending on who is talking to whom, variations of at least six languages can be spoken among the Spurs.
"You end up learning languages from everybody," Argentine wing Manu Ginobili said. "Tony (Parker) was speaking with (former teammate Romain) Sato in French. Rasho (Nesterovic) to me in Italian, Rasho and Beno (Udrih) in Slovenian. Pop last year spoke some words to (Hedo) Turkoglu (now with Orlando) in Turkish, and talks Russian (to Nesterovic) ... you have a lot of different things in there."
Hence, the occasional butchered dialogue.
"Somebody was addressing the team one day and referred to, 'veteranism,' " Popovich said. "About six guys looked at each other (trying not to laugh)."
Thus, before Game 1, Popovich devised a strategery for easing the pressure of the Finals.
"Every time somebody says something that's not really a word, it turns into this spelling bee thing," Popovich said. "I told them we were going to have a spelling bee. Manu was like, 'Spelling? bees? Where are the bees?'
"So we had to explain to him what a spelling bee was. Things like that happen."
A fine mixture
They laugh and kid about it. They chop up each other's languages and cut each other down — Duncan talking about the size of Ginobili's nose, everyone kidding Robert Horry, a Will Smith look-alike, about doing the pregame show for Game 1.
How do you make a champion? You throw it all into a melting pot and let the flavors mix.
And because of the Spurs' success, the pot never has been quite so stirred all over the league. It is impossible not to notice how fluidly the parts can fit and how much things have changed.
Reputations and myths about foreign players are being broken with every game the Spurs win in their unselfish ways and internationally flavored style.
For years, more foreign-born players missed than hit. They earned reputations for arriving to the NBA out of shape, being weak defensively and unathletic.
The first time Popovich brought in a foreign-born player was Serbia's Zarko Paspalj in 1989 when Popovich was a Spurs assistant. But he couldn't argue with two of then-coach Larry Brown's reasons for wanting to release Paspalj. He couldn't play and was a chain-smoker.
But with a third NBA championship in seven years perhaps on the way in large part because of a lightning-quick point guard in Parker and a daring, defensively brilliant wing in Ginobili, some are begrudgingly admitting foreign players can be integral parts. Even superstars.
But note that we say some.
One day after Ginobili blistered the Pistons for 15 fourth-quarter points, single-handedly stealing the show as if Manu Ginobili is Spanish for Michael Jordan, Rasheed Wallace was asked about the Spurs wing.
Wallace hesitantly blurted: "He's all right. Ain't nothing too special about the kid."
For years, that kind of reluctant, backhanded praise is what foreign players faced. Frankly, the NBA's best players were conceited and often resentful, even Jordan and Scottie Pippen never fully accepted Toni Kukoc in Chicago.
But until recently, few foreign players did much to dispel myths.
There were the exceptions with Arvydas Sabonis, Vlade Divac and Peja Stojakovic earning legitimate accolades, but even they were more prototypical Europeans — shooters and mostly finesse players hardly known for defense. The best guard and all-around player might have been Drazen Petrovic, a Serb who died in a car accident in his prime in 1993.
Otherwise, an assortment of thick-legged, slow-footed Europeans with skill but little defensive ability came and went, giving NBA presidents and GMs little reason to look beyond American borders.
There was Dino Radja, highly skilled, but ultimately overwhelmed and oft-injured by the physical NBA. There was Kukoc, overpaid and more about news clippings than production.
Then came Germany's Dirk Nowitzki, Lithuania's Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Spain's Pau Gasol and, of course, China's Yao Ming. These guys could play. But win come playoff time?
The Spurs were the first to prove it. They turned their entire backcourt over to foreign-born players, including the critical point guard spot. They found the best defensive player to arrive from a foreign land in Ginobili.
They have made it impossible to ignore that championships can be won with talent from abroad playing vital roles.
Unless you're Rasheed Wallace. Translation: You're in denial.