Kori Ellis
05-29-2007, 01:34 AM
Notebook: Spurs plan for draft in midst of playoffs
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA052907.03X.BKNspurs.notebook.3cb7047.html
Web Posted: 05/29/2007 12:58 AM CDT
Johnny Ludden
Express-News
SALT LAKE CITY — With the NBA draft less than a month away, Spurs officials are juggling their usual scouting duties in the midst of the playoffs.
General manager R.C. Buford flew to Orlando, Fla., after Monday's game for the start of the league's predraft camp. Assistant general manager Sam Presti will join him there today.
The league implemented a new rule this season that forbids teams from holding individual workouts for draft-eligible players until after the end of the Orlando camp.
While the team has been on the road during the playoffs, Spurs officials have used their hotel rooms as a base of operations to watch film of players.
"You have to be a little creative on how you cover it," Presti said. "But you have to keep a big-picture perspective on not just here in the present but also on the impact those decisions and responsibilities in Orlando can have on the organization long-term.
"You can't lose sight on the importance of what's going on with the draft."
The Spurs will have three picks: Nos. 28, 33 and 58.
Coach Gregg Popovich will leave the scouting duties to Buford, Presti and their staff.
"I have absolutely no involvement in what's going on in Orlando," Popovich said. "I just don't have the time to do that. They don't really need me anyway."
Fisher leaves team: Jazz guard Derek Fisher is scheduled to attend a medical appointment regarding his daughter's health today in New York and will re-join the team in San Antonio on Wednesday for Game 5.
Fisher flew to New York immediately after the game. His daughter had a tumor between her eye and her brain removed May 9. The surgery forced him to miss Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.
Hotel suicide: Some Spurs officials had an unsettling afternoon when they returned to their team hotel to discover a man had apparently committed suicide by jumping from one of the building's upper floors.
Many of the players didn't know about the incident until they boarded the team bus later in the day to go to the arena.
Questioning Kobe: Three of Robert Horry's championships were earned while he was a teammate of Kobe Bryant on the Lakers. When Horry heard of Bryant lobbying for the return of Jerry West to a position of power on the Lakers, Horry asked an interesting question.
"The question is," Horry said, "does Phil want Jerry back? And does the man who's paying the bills want him back?"
Phil is Lakers coach Phil Jackson. The man who signs the Lakers' checks is the team's majority owner, Dr. Jerry Buss.
West's tenure with the Grizzlies ends July 1.
Horry said he did not think Bryant's position would carry as much weight as some believe.
"I know people have been pointing their fingers at him," Horry said, "but a player can say what he wants. The ultimate decision is with the owner and the GM."
Horry said players such as Bryant have a right to express themselves about operations.
"I think if you're the focal point of the team, it's your right to voice your opinion," Horry said, "because if anything goes bad, they're going to blame you."
Horry recalled Bryant as a good teammate whose occasional conflicts with coaches and teammates resulted from his competitive nature.
"People always talk about him, but to me, he was a great teammate," Horry said. "He's a competitor, and people always misconstrued that about his cockiness and not liking people and not doing certain things, but he just clearly wanted to win. That's a good teammate."
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA052907.03X.BKNspurs.notebook.3cb7047.html
Web Posted: 05/29/2007 12:58 AM CDT
Johnny Ludden
Express-News
SALT LAKE CITY — With the NBA draft less than a month away, Spurs officials are juggling their usual scouting duties in the midst of the playoffs.
General manager R.C. Buford flew to Orlando, Fla., after Monday's game for the start of the league's predraft camp. Assistant general manager Sam Presti will join him there today.
The league implemented a new rule this season that forbids teams from holding individual workouts for draft-eligible players until after the end of the Orlando camp.
While the team has been on the road during the playoffs, Spurs officials have used their hotel rooms as a base of operations to watch film of players.
"You have to be a little creative on how you cover it," Presti said. "But you have to keep a big-picture perspective on not just here in the present but also on the impact those decisions and responsibilities in Orlando can have on the organization long-term.
"You can't lose sight on the importance of what's going on with the draft."
The Spurs will have three picks: Nos. 28, 33 and 58.
Coach Gregg Popovich will leave the scouting duties to Buford, Presti and their staff.
"I have absolutely no involvement in what's going on in Orlando," Popovich said. "I just don't have the time to do that. They don't really need me anyway."
Fisher leaves team: Jazz guard Derek Fisher is scheduled to attend a medical appointment regarding his daughter's health today in New York and will re-join the team in San Antonio on Wednesday for Game 5.
Fisher flew to New York immediately after the game. His daughter had a tumor between her eye and her brain removed May 9. The surgery forced him to miss Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.
Hotel suicide: Some Spurs officials had an unsettling afternoon when they returned to their team hotel to discover a man had apparently committed suicide by jumping from one of the building's upper floors.
Many of the players didn't know about the incident until they boarded the team bus later in the day to go to the arena.
Questioning Kobe: Three of Robert Horry's championships were earned while he was a teammate of Kobe Bryant on the Lakers. When Horry heard of Bryant lobbying for the return of Jerry West to a position of power on the Lakers, Horry asked an interesting question.
"The question is," Horry said, "does Phil want Jerry back? And does the man who's paying the bills want him back?"
Phil is Lakers coach Phil Jackson. The man who signs the Lakers' checks is the team's majority owner, Dr. Jerry Buss.
West's tenure with the Grizzlies ends July 1.
Horry said he did not think Bryant's position would carry as much weight as some believe.
"I know people have been pointing their fingers at him," Horry said, "but a player can say what he wants. The ultimate decision is with the owner and the GM."
Horry said players such as Bryant have a right to express themselves about operations.
"I think if you're the focal point of the team, it's your right to voice your opinion," Horry said, "because if anything goes bad, they're going to blame you."
Horry recalled Bryant as a good teammate whose occasional conflicts with coaches and teammates resulted from his competitive nature.
"People always talk about him, but to me, he was a great teammate," Horry said. "He's a competitor, and people always misconstrued that about his cockiness and not liking people and not doing certain things, but he just clearly wanted to win. That's a good teammate."