Spurs: The Secret to San Antonio's Success

[tekdragon]

from Hoopsworld: (http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_19526.shtml)

By Bill Ingram
for HOOPSWORLD.com
Nov 21, 2006, 10:09


Things usually start pretty well.

Your shots are falling, you’re able to get some stops . . .you’re not quite sure what the big deal is.

Fast break here, three-pointer there, before long you’ve got a nice little lead developing and you start to feel a little momentum building, even.

By half time you’ve probably found a comfort zone, leading by something like ten points, the prognosis is definitely positive!

Still - there's something in the other team's eyes. It's like they know something you don't know. They don't appear to be too concerned about the score . . .

Then the third quarter starts. You’ve told the team they only need to keep doing what they’ve been doing. Everything was going great in the first half, so just keep plugging.

But something’s different.

Your shots aren’t falling quite as easily. You can’t quite find a way to stop that guy in the middle. Balls that were bouncing your way in the first half are now bouncing the other way.

You see frustration growing on the faces of your players. A bad bounce here, a missed dunk there and now they’re starting to feel tense. They even have some bad exchanges with a ref or two as they struggle to get back on track.

Meanwhile, the other team just looks on. They’re taking care of business – so much so that you’re not even sure they’re aware of your team being there.

They have a job to do. They do it with little emotion . . .little sign of exhaustion or weakness. Every time you miss a shot they cut your lead. Every time you turn the ball over they make you pay. By the end of the third quarter your comfort zone is gone.

Now your team is starting to lose its cool. The pressure’s on, and they start to get even more frustrated that the lead they built so easily has evaporated. The harder they try to regain control, the faster they lose their grip on the game.

By the middle of the fourth quarter the game is completely lost.

On your side there are red faces, angry voices, bruised egos.

On their side there are the faces of members at a boardroom conference table. They’re already talking about tomorrow, never even bothering to celebrate or even enjoy (or notice?) today’s victory.

“Our next meeting will be with the (insert team name),” says their head coach/CEO. “Please be punctual and systematic and let’s register another win as we make our way towards June.”

Congratulations. You’ve just been beaten by the San Antonio Spurs.

Better luck next time.

[Leetonidas]

Balls that were bouncing your way in the first half are now bouncing the other way.

:lol

[wildbill2u]

Remember the 99 team. Even if they were behind in the 4th quarter, you simply knew--because they knew--that the Spurs would win in the end.

This current team seems to be getting that same confidence that they WILL win if they keep on, keeping on. And that pyschological edge is half the battle.

[ShoogarBear]

Very nice article. Hope it's still true in June.

[abelle23]

i know its still early in the season but im impressed with the team because they've been winning b2bs and doing well in road games :smokin

and to see them come back in the 4th qs of the games this past games shows their poise and composure...TRUE CHAMPIONS!! :king

[sanman53]

Congratulations. You’ve just been beaten by the San Antonio Spurs.

:dizzy

[samikeyp]

Bill "the Rocket Guy" is a tool...but its a good article.


For a change.

[Quasar]

Two thumbs up!

[zero signal]

Try imagining David Duchovny narrating it.

Trippy.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

Actually, they're 2-2 in b2bs, which is about what they did last year, and they should never have lost to the Bobcats, but meh.

Yeah, this team seems to enjoy giving the other team a half-time lead and then crushing them in the second half. They look plenty focussed. Me likey. :D

[Brutalis]

halftime is one word.

these guys at hoopsworld are like teenagers with html skills. they need an editor. someone to point out the 50 mistakes in each article they write.

[johngateswhiteley]

halftime is one word.

these guys at hoopsworld are like teenagers with html skills. they need an editor. someone to point out the 50 mistakes in each article they write.

i rarely point out your mistakes, and you make plenty.

[Samr]

these guys at hoopsworld are like teenagers with html skills. they need an editor. someone to point out the 50 mistakes in each article they write.



i rarely point out your mistakes, and you make plenty.


There is a distinct difference between posting on a message board and publishing articles on a website.

On this forum, and places similar, it is generally understood that people are to correct major spelling and/or grammar issues before they post the reply; however, not everyone is a fantastic proof-reader (though we now have Firefox 2.0) and mistakes do happen. They are to be expected and, so long as they don't detract from the post's meaning or desired effect, are generally ignored. But on a news website like Hoopsworld, where content is delivered by way of articles rather than typed discussion, the quality of work is expected to abide by a much higher standard. The quality of work is supposed to reflect the professional work ethic and practices of the writers and staff. As a reader, you are less likely to take an article seriously if its writer had left clear indications that the English language was not taken seriously.

Brutalis has every right to criticize the piece, and if there has been a pattern of mistakes in grammar or spelling, he has every right to criticize the publishers as well. But you, johngateswhatever, do not have the right to criticize Brutalis on the same basis. You are trying to hold an author in one arena to the same rules applying to an author in another. The fact of the matter is, you are attempting to parallel two COMPLETELY different mediums.

[twincam]

For the 1,563,587th time. It's all about P-O-I-S-E

nuff said.

[johngateswhiteley]

There is a distinct difference between posting on a message board and publishing articles on a website.

On this forum, and places similar, it is generally understood that people are to correct major spelling and/or grammar issues before they post the reply; however, not everyone is a fantastic proof-reader (though we now have Firefox 2.0) and mistakes do happen. They are to be expected and, so long as they don't detract from the post's meaning or desired effect, are generally ignored. But on a news website like Hoopsworld, where content is delivered by way of articles rather than typed discussion, the quality of work is expected to abide by a much higher standard. The quality of work is supposed to reflect the professional work ethic and practices of the writers and staff. As a reader, you are less likely to take an article seriously if its writer had left clear indications that the English language was not taken seriously.

Brutalis has every right to criticize the piece, and if there has been a pattern of mistakes in grammar or spelling, he has every right to criticize the publishers as well. But you, johngateswhatever, do not have the right to criticize Brutalis on the same basis. You are trying to hold an author in one arena to the same rules applying to an author in another. The fact of the matter is, you are attempting to parallel two COMPLETELY different mediums.

nope. i find it funny that Brutalis is criticizing and article that had a few mistakes, when many of his posts are not even legible. i agree, that you cannot hold Brutalis to the same level of scrutiny...and i am not. take some time and read his posts in the college sports forum on a regular basis...25% of the time they don't even make ANY sense.

but lets not get too off track here. i am not attacking Brutalis....just find it ironic.

[Jimcs50]

The bastard is saying that the Spurs suck in the first half.


:ihit











:)