bigbendbruisebrother
06-24-2005, 09:13 PM
Buck Harvey: Hot, cold and just warming up: Mix of global winners
San Antonio Express-News
Brent and Rick Barry are together again. Rings, 30 years apart.
Robert Horry and Steve Kerr find themselves linked, too. Both changed Spurs seasons with 3-pointers, and one or the other of them has won a title in 11 of the past 12 seasons.
And then there's Gregg Popovich and Larry Brown. Have winners and losers ever hugged this way?
But the uncommon combination — the one that no one saw coming, especially in 1999 when they first were in a gym together — is the one that has a chance to win a few more championships.
Hot, cold. Wild, calm. St. Croix, Bahia Blanca.
Couldn't they find a way to cut the Finals MVP trophy and give half to Tim Duncan and half to Manu Ginobili?
Duncan sounded as if he didn't mind sharing. "He's the guy," Duncan said Thursday night of Ginobili, "who really made things happen."
Both did, of course, but there was a list. Bruce Bowen stayed steady through the Finals, and his block of Chauncey Billups late in the fourth quarter snuffed Detroit's final chance. Barry played with toughness he always didn't have this season. Popovich cut his rotation to seven and switched defensive assignments late. And then there was Horry.
He reached Kerr-like status in San Antonio because of Game 5. The Spurs wouldn't have won this title without him, but they likely would have lost Thursday without him, too.
This Game 7 — as big an event as San Antonio has ever seen — didn't require a miracle. But Popovich said: "I don't know how we did it."
Others aren't sure, either. After the previous four games, including the one the Spurs won, it appeared the Pistons were the better team.
But there were signs of change early, notably when Duncan went aggressively to the basket and his free throws began to fall. Another change came when the Detroit big men found themselves in foul trouble; Brown gambled by going small, putting Tayshaun Prince at power forward at the end of the third quarter.
The Spurs went to Duncan, defended then by Prince, and scored on a three-point play.
That's also when Ginobili joined in, playing off Duncan. The two combined to score 33 of their 48 points in the second half. In the final minutes they found each other, both times with the shot clock down, Duncan first throwing in a 20-footer, Ginobili following with a 3-pointer.
As Ginobili went back on defense, pumping both fists for the loudest crowd on record in the SBC Center, the Spurs had a 72-65 lead and a hold on their third title.
Duncan and Ginobili met shortly after the first. They were together in the summer of 1999, in Puerto Rico, albeit for different teams. Duncan was part of USA basketball, trying to qualify for the Olympics, and Ginobili was with Argentina.
Ginobili, skinny and unknown, had been drafted late in the second round by the Spurs just weeks earlier. If Duncan looked at him at all, he saw just another kid who wouldn't make the team.
But that moment was a franchise turning point, and not even those who drafted Ginobili saw it coming. His rise — as well as the additions of Tony Parker and others — provided unprecedented change.
Such as with Duncan. A lot of critics have wanted to redefine Duncan this month, so here goes: No superstar since Bill Russell has won a title, watched all 11 teammates leave, then win another title with a new set of teammates. :smokin
This says volumes about Duncan. Yes, he's the best power forward to ever play the game. No, he's not finished.
But it also says as much about the franchise. It was able to rebuild — and then win titles as no NBA small market ever has — because it found someone like Ginobili.
He's the yin-yang partner that Duncan needs. Whereas Duncan is hard on himself, Ginobili is hard on those who get in his way. Whereas Duncan draws defenses to him, Ginobili is there to take advantage.
He did Thursday, dunking with both his right and his left.
Now they have success as few have in their sport. Duncan has won three titles before the age of 30, and Ginobili followed his gold medal in Athens with his second NBA ring.
"I don't think we have even scratched the surface with him," Duncan said of Ginobili, and they will have time to scratch.
Hot, cold. Wild, calm.
Their contracts run through 2010.
San Antonio Express-News
Brent and Rick Barry are together again. Rings, 30 years apart.
Robert Horry and Steve Kerr find themselves linked, too. Both changed Spurs seasons with 3-pointers, and one or the other of them has won a title in 11 of the past 12 seasons.
And then there's Gregg Popovich and Larry Brown. Have winners and losers ever hugged this way?
But the uncommon combination — the one that no one saw coming, especially in 1999 when they first were in a gym together — is the one that has a chance to win a few more championships.
Hot, cold. Wild, calm. St. Croix, Bahia Blanca.
Couldn't they find a way to cut the Finals MVP trophy and give half to Tim Duncan and half to Manu Ginobili?
Duncan sounded as if he didn't mind sharing. "He's the guy," Duncan said Thursday night of Ginobili, "who really made things happen."
Both did, of course, but there was a list. Bruce Bowen stayed steady through the Finals, and his block of Chauncey Billups late in the fourth quarter snuffed Detroit's final chance. Barry played with toughness he always didn't have this season. Popovich cut his rotation to seven and switched defensive assignments late. And then there was Horry.
He reached Kerr-like status in San Antonio because of Game 5. The Spurs wouldn't have won this title without him, but they likely would have lost Thursday without him, too.
This Game 7 — as big an event as San Antonio has ever seen — didn't require a miracle. But Popovich said: "I don't know how we did it."
Others aren't sure, either. After the previous four games, including the one the Spurs won, it appeared the Pistons were the better team.
But there were signs of change early, notably when Duncan went aggressively to the basket and his free throws began to fall. Another change came when the Detroit big men found themselves in foul trouble; Brown gambled by going small, putting Tayshaun Prince at power forward at the end of the third quarter.
The Spurs went to Duncan, defended then by Prince, and scored on a three-point play.
That's also when Ginobili joined in, playing off Duncan. The two combined to score 33 of their 48 points in the second half. In the final minutes they found each other, both times with the shot clock down, Duncan first throwing in a 20-footer, Ginobili following with a 3-pointer.
As Ginobili went back on defense, pumping both fists for the loudest crowd on record in the SBC Center, the Spurs had a 72-65 lead and a hold on their third title.
Duncan and Ginobili met shortly after the first. They were together in the summer of 1999, in Puerto Rico, albeit for different teams. Duncan was part of USA basketball, trying to qualify for the Olympics, and Ginobili was with Argentina.
Ginobili, skinny and unknown, had been drafted late in the second round by the Spurs just weeks earlier. If Duncan looked at him at all, he saw just another kid who wouldn't make the team.
But that moment was a franchise turning point, and not even those who drafted Ginobili saw it coming. His rise — as well as the additions of Tony Parker and others — provided unprecedented change.
Such as with Duncan. A lot of critics have wanted to redefine Duncan this month, so here goes: No superstar since Bill Russell has won a title, watched all 11 teammates leave, then win another title with a new set of teammates. :smokin
This says volumes about Duncan. Yes, he's the best power forward to ever play the game. No, he's not finished.
But it also says as much about the franchise. It was able to rebuild — and then win titles as no NBA small market ever has — because it found someone like Ginobili.
He's the yin-yang partner that Duncan needs. Whereas Duncan is hard on himself, Ginobili is hard on those who get in his way. Whereas Duncan draws defenses to him, Ginobili is there to take advantage.
He did Thursday, dunking with both his right and his left.
Now they have success as few have in their sport. Duncan has won three titles before the age of 30, and Ginobili followed his gold medal in Athens with his second NBA ring.
"I don't think we have even scratched the surface with him," Duncan said of Ginobili, and they will have time to scratch.
Hot, cold. Wild, calm.
Their contracts run through 2010.