Kori Ellis
05-28-2006, 04:52 AM
Buck Harvey: Discarded last year, Rose at last was missed
Web Posted: 05/28/2006 12:21 AM CDT
San Antonio Express-News
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA052806.1C.COL.BKNharvey.spurs.816ed85.html
Nazr Mohammed and Malik Rose were part of another deal this month. This time, cards were involved.
Both attended Tony Parker's birthday/poker party.
The two exchanged hands, as well as places. Just as the Spurs needed Mohammed a year ago, this year the Spurs needed Rose.
The outcomes?
As different as winning and folding.
The Spurs don't bring this up, nor do they regret the 2005 trade that sent Rose to New York for Mohammed. Mohammed was vital against big lineups in the title run, and no one would exchange a ring for conjecture.
Besides, the same factor that was in play then would be in play now. Money. The Knicks owe Rose about $7 million in each of the next two years.
That's a lot to pay a bench player in a small market, and that's a lot to gamble with, too. But friendship, not money, is why Rose was one of about 50 invited to Parker's birthday party.
This tells, again, that Rose's relationship with the Spurs wasn't superficial. So imagine how Rose felt last June when his former teammates took the championship. They had gone on nicely without him, hadn't they?
But there are no rules about former Spurs hanging with current ones. And, for this party, Eva Longoria hired the perfect master of ceremonies: Phil Hellmuth, a nine-time World Series of Poker champion.
Hellmuth now earns money at poker without having to play. He has cashed in on the industry's popularity, having written several books and created a poker fantasy camp.
Making appearances is part of it. Just as Hellmuth showed for Alex Rodriguez and Tom Brady, he showed at Parker's party, and Hellmuth described the event in his regular column.
"Everyone in the room was playing!" Hellmuth wrote. "The Spurs are so into poker that they keep records for the entire year (Michael Finley, another great player, won their last tournament)."
Hellmuth wrote that he beat Parker out of a large pot. "Then I carried around the microphone, praising and teasing Parker, Longoria, Tim Duncan, Finley, Malik Rose and Nazr Mohammed."
The teasing could have turned from poker to basketball, except few Spurs likely wanted to laugh about that. Mohammed, especially, had reason to be sensitive. In a contract year, no less, he played only 14 more minutes against the Mavericks than Rose did.
It's not illogical to argue Mohammed should have played more. The Spurs lost, after all.
But two of Gregg Popovich's points are real. One, neither Mohammed nor Rasho Nesterovic could have defended Dirk Nowitzki. That would have left Tim Duncan on him or on a smaller, quicker Maverick.
And, two, not having Mohammed and Nesterovic opened up the other end for Duncan. That created merely the best offensive series of his career.
But what if Rose had remained a Spur? Clues come from when he was one.
Rose was often Popovich's counter when the opposition went small. "He can guard everybody from the 1 to the 4," Popovich once said.
Rose also leaned on the most famous 5, Shaquille O'Neal. But it was his success against small lineups that made him so valuable.
Asked why Rose was so good against little lineups, Duncan had the obvious answer. "Because he's little," Duncan once said.
Then Duncan quickly added: "And because he can jump out on (Dirk) Nowitzki one time, then switch to (Steve) Nash the next."
Ah, Nowitzki.
Granted, Nowitzki is better than he was in 2003, the last time the Spurs met the Mavericks in the playoffs. Still, with Bruce Bowen more occupied on Finley, Rose usually checked in and headed for Nowitzki.
Rose did more than jump out on him. In Game 2 of the Western Conference finals, with Nowitzki on the floor in the first half with two fouls, Rose drove on him — drawing Nowitzki's third. Rose finished with 25 points in 27 minutes.
And in the closeout Game 6? David Robinson played only 16 minutes compared to Rose's 32, and Rose ended with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
The Spurs needed the same this month. They needed someone who could counter the quick Dallas scorers and also rebound with them. They needed someone with a serviceable jumper to make sure defenders didn't leave to double Duncan. And they needed, at worst, someone to relieve an overworked rotation.
Almost 15 months after they traded him, the Spurs needed Rose.
Web Posted: 05/28/2006 12:21 AM CDT
San Antonio Express-News
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA052806.1C.COL.BKNharvey.spurs.816ed85.html
Nazr Mohammed and Malik Rose were part of another deal this month. This time, cards were involved.
Both attended Tony Parker's birthday/poker party.
The two exchanged hands, as well as places. Just as the Spurs needed Mohammed a year ago, this year the Spurs needed Rose.
The outcomes?
As different as winning and folding.
The Spurs don't bring this up, nor do they regret the 2005 trade that sent Rose to New York for Mohammed. Mohammed was vital against big lineups in the title run, and no one would exchange a ring for conjecture.
Besides, the same factor that was in play then would be in play now. Money. The Knicks owe Rose about $7 million in each of the next two years.
That's a lot to pay a bench player in a small market, and that's a lot to gamble with, too. But friendship, not money, is why Rose was one of about 50 invited to Parker's birthday party.
This tells, again, that Rose's relationship with the Spurs wasn't superficial. So imagine how Rose felt last June when his former teammates took the championship. They had gone on nicely without him, hadn't they?
But there are no rules about former Spurs hanging with current ones. And, for this party, Eva Longoria hired the perfect master of ceremonies: Phil Hellmuth, a nine-time World Series of Poker champion.
Hellmuth now earns money at poker without having to play. He has cashed in on the industry's popularity, having written several books and created a poker fantasy camp.
Making appearances is part of it. Just as Hellmuth showed for Alex Rodriguez and Tom Brady, he showed at Parker's party, and Hellmuth described the event in his regular column.
"Everyone in the room was playing!" Hellmuth wrote. "The Spurs are so into poker that they keep records for the entire year (Michael Finley, another great player, won their last tournament)."
Hellmuth wrote that he beat Parker out of a large pot. "Then I carried around the microphone, praising and teasing Parker, Longoria, Tim Duncan, Finley, Malik Rose and Nazr Mohammed."
The teasing could have turned from poker to basketball, except few Spurs likely wanted to laugh about that. Mohammed, especially, had reason to be sensitive. In a contract year, no less, he played only 14 more minutes against the Mavericks than Rose did.
It's not illogical to argue Mohammed should have played more. The Spurs lost, after all.
But two of Gregg Popovich's points are real. One, neither Mohammed nor Rasho Nesterovic could have defended Dirk Nowitzki. That would have left Tim Duncan on him or on a smaller, quicker Maverick.
And, two, not having Mohammed and Nesterovic opened up the other end for Duncan. That created merely the best offensive series of his career.
But what if Rose had remained a Spur? Clues come from when he was one.
Rose was often Popovich's counter when the opposition went small. "He can guard everybody from the 1 to the 4," Popovich once said.
Rose also leaned on the most famous 5, Shaquille O'Neal. But it was his success against small lineups that made him so valuable.
Asked why Rose was so good against little lineups, Duncan had the obvious answer. "Because he's little," Duncan once said.
Then Duncan quickly added: "And because he can jump out on (Dirk) Nowitzki one time, then switch to (Steve) Nash the next."
Ah, Nowitzki.
Granted, Nowitzki is better than he was in 2003, the last time the Spurs met the Mavericks in the playoffs. Still, with Bruce Bowen more occupied on Finley, Rose usually checked in and headed for Nowitzki.
Rose did more than jump out on him. In Game 2 of the Western Conference finals, with Nowitzki on the floor in the first half with two fouls, Rose drove on him — drawing Nowitzki's third. Rose finished with 25 points in 27 minutes.
And in the closeout Game 6? David Robinson played only 16 minutes compared to Rose's 32, and Rose ended with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
The Spurs needed the same this month. They needed someone who could counter the quick Dallas scorers and also rebound with them. They needed someone with a serviceable jumper to make sure defenders didn't leave to double Duncan. And they needed, at worst, someone to relieve an overworked rotation.
Almost 15 months after they traded him, the Spurs needed Rose.