Jimcs50
11-02-2005, 09:20 AM
Nov. 2, 2005, 1:22AM
Spurs resume with title form
NBA champs win in opener, remain standard for doing it right
By FRAN BLINEBURY
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
SAN ANTONIO - The biggest question on opening night was whether David Stern would present the defending champs with their commemorative rings and turn around and fine the San Antonio Spurs for being in violation of the new dress code.
Then Brent Barry jogged out to midcourt and planted a big, sloppy kiss on the cheek of the NBA commissioner. As if to say that the Spurs, winners of three titles in the past seven seasons, are less about the bling-bling and more about embracing everything that is right about the game.
Barely 4 1/2 months after they closed out a hard-fought, seven-game victory over the Detroit Pistons, the Spurs were back on the floor at the SBC Center on Tuesday night to start writing the next chapter in their how-to-do-it-right manual with a 102-91 victory over the Denver Nuggets.
In less than a decade, the former ABA franchise that built its reputation on an endless string of free-wheeling gunslingers has come to be known as the NBA's model team.
"That's for other people to decide," said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. "We approach it exactly as every other year. Our big mantra is boring as hell. We don't want to skip any steps."
The basic steps, of course, are in the core of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, as diverse and dynamic a trio as exists in the game and yet a group that won't live off outside expectations that it should cruise back to the NBA Finals.
"It's been pretty easy in the sense that I have a group that knows exactly who they are and what they've accomplished," Popovich said. "We haven't reached some mythical, rarefied level where everybody's afraid of us and they can't touch us. That doesn't exist."
The feat is to repeat
The next rung, it would seem, in the Spurs stamping this as their dynasty is to win back-to-back championships, a feat that eluded them after titles in 1999 and 2003. To take that step, this team that was already close to complete added 22 years of veteran NBA experience in Nick Van Exel and Michael Finley. It then cast out its wide international net to bring in 30-year-old Fabricio Oberto of Argentina's Olympic gold-medal team.
San Antonio has a roster that is now as deep as any in recent memory and one that seems to fit like matching puzzle pieces. Where that Lakers' so-called "Dream Team" two years ago brought in Karl Malone and Gary Payton to join Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant and looked more like a makeshift all-star squad that eventually broke down, the Spurs appear ready for the long haul.
In Van Exel, the Spurs get a point guard who can come off the bench to spell Parker and not have the team suffer a drop-off in speed or the ability to run the offense. In Finley, they get a confident, fearless outside shooter to come off the bench to spread defenses, one area that was lacking last season.
"I told them both they should only come here for the right reasons," Popovich said. "But hey, look, it all starts with Tim."
Indeed, Duncan is a two-time winner of the MVP award in the regular season and has been named Finals MVP in each of the championship climbs. He is the most complete and unselfish player in the league.
"He helps people to be better, and he allows people to reach their highest level, because roles can be fit around him very easily," Popovich said.
However, a good deal of the Spurs' success is also the result of the management team. Popovich and general manager R.C. Buford continually change the cast of characters, yet always put the proper cast of role players around Duncan.
The Spurs have led the way in the league in international scouting and development with players from France, Argentina and Slovenia, in addition to Duncan from the U.S. Virgin Islands.
"The reputation is that we're out there looking for international players," Buford said. "That's not the case. We're looking for basketball talent. We're just trying to create value in the opportunities that we get, usually down low in the draft.
"All we're really about is trying to put the best team out there on the floor and, to do that, you try to create the best possible atmosphere for players. If that attracts other quality players, well, that's what you want."
Feeling comfortable
What the team wanted from Finley is what it got in the opener. He played 28 minutes off the bench and scored 11 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter as the Spurs came from behind to win.
"From the first day I got here, these guys have welcomed me with open arms," Finley said. "With each game I've gotten more and more comfortable. I knew what I was getting into when I signed here and this was it."
For the model NBA franchise that never stops building, another brick in the wall.
Spurs resume with title form
NBA champs win in opener, remain standard for doing it right
By FRAN BLINEBURY
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
SAN ANTONIO - The biggest question on opening night was whether David Stern would present the defending champs with their commemorative rings and turn around and fine the San Antonio Spurs for being in violation of the new dress code.
Then Brent Barry jogged out to midcourt and planted a big, sloppy kiss on the cheek of the NBA commissioner. As if to say that the Spurs, winners of three titles in the past seven seasons, are less about the bling-bling and more about embracing everything that is right about the game.
Barely 4 1/2 months after they closed out a hard-fought, seven-game victory over the Detroit Pistons, the Spurs were back on the floor at the SBC Center on Tuesday night to start writing the next chapter in their how-to-do-it-right manual with a 102-91 victory over the Denver Nuggets.
In less than a decade, the former ABA franchise that built its reputation on an endless string of free-wheeling gunslingers has come to be known as the NBA's model team.
"That's for other people to decide," said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. "We approach it exactly as every other year. Our big mantra is boring as hell. We don't want to skip any steps."
The basic steps, of course, are in the core of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, as diverse and dynamic a trio as exists in the game and yet a group that won't live off outside expectations that it should cruise back to the NBA Finals.
"It's been pretty easy in the sense that I have a group that knows exactly who they are and what they've accomplished," Popovich said. "We haven't reached some mythical, rarefied level where everybody's afraid of us and they can't touch us. That doesn't exist."
The feat is to repeat
The next rung, it would seem, in the Spurs stamping this as their dynasty is to win back-to-back championships, a feat that eluded them after titles in 1999 and 2003. To take that step, this team that was already close to complete added 22 years of veteran NBA experience in Nick Van Exel and Michael Finley. It then cast out its wide international net to bring in 30-year-old Fabricio Oberto of Argentina's Olympic gold-medal team.
San Antonio has a roster that is now as deep as any in recent memory and one that seems to fit like matching puzzle pieces. Where that Lakers' so-called "Dream Team" two years ago brought in Karl Malone and Gary Payton to join Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant and looked more like a makeshift all-star squad that eventually broke down, the Spurs appear ready for the long haul.
In Van Exel, the Spurs get a point guard who can come off the bench to spell Parker and not have the team suffer a drop-off in speed or the ability to run the offense. In Finley, they get a confident, fearless outside shooter to come off the bench to spread defenses, one area that was lacking last season.
"I told them both they should only come here for the right reasons," Popovich said. "But hey, look, it all starts with Tim."
Indeed, Duncan is a two-time winner of the MVP award in the regular season and has been named Finals MVP in each of the championship climbs. He is the most complete and unselfish player in the league.
"He helps people to be better, and he allows people to reach their highest level, because roles can be fit around him very easily," Popovich said.
However, a good deal of the Spurs' success is also the result of the management team. Popovich and general manager R.C. Buford continually change the cast of characters, yet always put the proper cast of role players around Duncan.
The Spurs have led the way in the league in international scouting and development with players from France, Argentina and Slovenia, in addition to Duncan from the U.S. Virgin Islands.
"The reputation is that we're out there looking for international players," Buford said. "That's not the case. We're looking for basketball talent. We're just trying to create value in the opportunities that we get, usually down low in the draft.
"All we're really about is trying to put the best team out there on the floor and, to do that, you try to create the best possible atmosphere for players. If that attracts other quality players, well, that's what you want."
Feeling comfortable
What the team wanted from Finley is what it got in the opener. He played 28 minutes off the bench and scored 11 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter as the Spurs came from behind to win.
"From the first day I got here, these guys have welcomed me with open arms," Finley said. "With each game I've gotten more and more comfortable. I knew what I was getting into when I signed here and this was it."
For the model NBA franchise that never stops building, another brick in the wall.