whottt
06-15-2007, 02:27 AM
http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=222491
CLEVELAND -- Robert Horry is an NBA dynasty unto himself.
The San Antonio forward became one of only eight players in league history with seven or more championship rings when the Spurs beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 83-82 on Thursday night for a finals sweep.
He's the only player from that elite group who's not a member of the Boston Celtics, moving into a tie with Frank Ramsey for seventh on the all-time list.
The 36-year-old Horry won two championships with Houston (1994, '95), three with the Los Angeles Lakers (2000-'02) and two with the Spurs (2005, '07).
"I'll think I'll play one more year to get back and repeat," Horry said while gathered with his teammates at center court.
Horry was asked Wednesday what he'd do with a seventh ring and he said he'd simply put it in a drawer with the others.
He said he would be much more excited for some of his teammates to win their first rings, like Michael Finley and Jacque Vaughn.
Horry had one point and three rebounds in Game 4. He finished the series with 12 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists.
But it was players like Horry, Vaughn and Brent Barry that gave San Antonio an advantage in depth and experience, something the Cavaliers sorely lacked.
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REFUGEE GUESTS: Cavaliers reserve swingman Ira Newble hugged and shook hands with 15 refugees from southern Sudan, his special guests for Game 4.
Newble has become an activist for Darfur, a region of Sudan where four years of warfare have left more than 200,000 dead and 2.5 million people displaced.
"A lot of people are losing lives right now. This needs to stop," Newble said. "This is a form of genocide. It's no different than the Holocaust."
Newble has been gathering signatures from fellow players for a letter he plans to send to China, a major backer of Sudan. China is also the host of the 2008 Olympics, an event in which NBA players will participate.
China, which buys two-thirds of Sudan's oil exports, sells the African country weapons and military aircraft and has blocked efforts to send U.N. peacekeeping forces to Darfur without Sudanese consent.
So far, Newble has 15 signatures on the letter. He said more are to come.
Newble decided to take action after reading about the conflict, including the involvement of professor Eric Reeves, a Sudan expert at Smith College in Massachusetts.
"He's a guy who could have easily looked away," said Reeves, who attended the game. "Ira has fashioned a dream team of consciousness."
Newble, who was inactive for Game 4 and has only played one minute in the series, invited 15 of Sudan's "Lost Boys," orphaned and made homeless in Sudan's civil war, to Quicken Loans Arena.
"It's very special to have them here," Newble said. "The Lost Boys have lived through a lot. None of us here can imagine what they've been through to come over here to this country. I wanted them to come enjoy a game, feel comfortable, feel at home."
Ngor Aguen, 27, came to Cleveland six years ago from Sudan with help from Catholic Charities. Wearing a blue Cavs hat and a wine-colored "Rise Up!" T-shirt, he met Newble for the first time Thursday night.
"He's got a heart," Aguen said. "He can see outside of here and say, 'What can I do to help?' God put it in his hands. I think he will be a messenger."
Newble plans a trip to Darfur in August.
The Darfur conflict began in 2003 when local rebels took up arms against the Sudanese government, accusing it of decades of neglect. Sudanese leaders are accused of unleashing the pro-government Arab militia, the janjaweed, to fight them -- a charge they deny.
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HUGHES SITS AGAIN: Cavaliers starting point guard Larry Hughes was inactive for the second straight game with plantar fasciitis and a tear in his foot.
Hughes played through the injury in the first two games of the finals and looked slow, struggling to defend the speedy Tony Parker. He was 1-for-10 from the field.
Rookie Daniel Gibson again started in Hughes' absence. Gibson, a second-round draft pick from Texas, had been a pleasant surprise in the postseason, scoring 31 points in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Nicknamed "Boobie," he averaged 15.5 points in the first two games of the series, then went 1-for-10 from the field, including 0-for-5 from 3-point range, in Game 3.
Gibson was 4-for-10 and had 10 points in Game 4 and averaged 10.75 in the series.
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MARRIAGE OF TWO MINDS: San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said his relationship with Spurs anchor Tim Duncan, besides that of player and coach, is like wedded bliss.
"I think when you've been with a player for a long time I think it's in a way like a marriage where respect grows, and that respect and trust is important to make it work," Popovich said before Game 4.
Popovich said a basketball relationship gets old over time. Duncan has been with the Spurs for all of his 10 seasons in the league.
"That's the way it's been with Timmy. Obviously I've been with him the longest," Popovich said. "Oftentimes we don't even have to speak. When you're with your best buddies, sometimes you don't say anything, you're just in the same room and you don't need to talk."
There's no escaping the fact that Duncan shares a few of Popovich's traits. They're both calm, cool and collected, and they're both known to say maxims like, "It is what it is."
"Oftentimes if he has a game that's not great, I don't say a word to him," Popovich said. "I don't say to him, well, Timmy, I think you should do this."
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WINNING EITHER WAY: Much has been made of how Cleveland has tried to pattern itself after San Antonio. But the first three games of the NBA finals proved the Cavaliers have a long way to go before they can play the way the Spurs do offensively.
Cleveland was averaging just 80 points through the first three games, and a loss in Game 4 would almost certainly leave the Cavs as the worst offensive team ever in the finals. So coach Mike Brown was asked before the game what he would like to see differently next season.
"I want to be an opportunistic fastbreak team that attacks," he said. "Some of the better teams in the league are the ones that are capable of playing at a pace where both teams are going to score in the 100s. But then if they play a team that likes to grind it out and score in the 90s or the high 80s, they're capable of doing that. I'd like to be a team that can play any style on any given night."
San Antonio is one of them.
The Spurs are the league's best defensive team, but when they beat Phoenix in the second round, they showed they could win playing the high-scoring Suns' style. San Antonio scored 111, 108 and 114 points in victories.
"I love the pick-and-roll game. I love guys that know how to drive and kick," Brown said. "So we want to make sure that we head in that direction."
------
AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney and Associated Press Writer Elizabeth White contributed to this report.
Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CLEVELAND -- Robert Horry is an NBA dynasty unto himself.
The San Antonio forward became one of only eight players in league history with seven or more championship rings when the Spurs beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 83-82 on Thursday night for a finals sweep.
He's the only player from that elite group who's not a member of the Boston Celtics, moving into a tie with Frank Ramsey for seventh on the all-time list.
The 36-year-old Horry won two championships with Houston (1994, '95), three with the Los Angeles Lakers (2000-'02) and two with the Spurs (2005, '07).
"I'll think I'll play one more year to get back and repeat," Horry said while gathered with his teammates at center court.
Horry was asked Wednesday what he'd do with a seventh ring and he said he'd simply put it in a drawer with the others.
He said he would be much more excited for some of his teammates to win their first rings, like Michael Finley and Jacque Vaughn.
Horry had one point and three rebounds in Game 4. He finished the series with 12 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists.
But it was players like Horry, Vaughn and Brent Barry that gave San Antonio an advantage in depth and experience, something the Cavaliers sorely lacked.
------
REFUGEE GUESTS: Cavaliers reserve swingman Ira Newble hugged and shook hands with 15 refugees from southern Sudan, his special guests for Game 4.
Newble has become an activist for Darfur, a region of Sudan where four years of warfare have left more than 200,000 dead and 2.5 million people displaced.
"A lot of people are losing lives right now. This needs to stop," Newble said. "This is a form of genocide. It's no different than the Holocaust."
Newble has been gathering signatures from fellow players for a letter he plans to send to China, a major backer of Sudan. China is also the host of the 2008 Olympics, an event in which NBA players will participate.
China, which buys two-thirds of Sudan's oil exports, sells the African country weapons and military aircraft and has blocked efforts to send U.N. peacekeeping forces to Darfur without Sudanese consent.
So far, Newble has 15 signatures on the letter. He said more are to come.
Newble decided to take action after reading about the conflict, including the involvement of professor Eric Reeves, a Sudan expert at Smith College in Massachusetts.
"He's a guy who could have easily looked away," said Reeves, who attended the game. "Ira has fashioned a dream team of consciousness."
Newble, who was inactive for Game 4 and has only played one minute in the series, invited 15 of Sudan's "Lost Boys," orphaned and made homeless in Sudan's civil war, to Quicken Loans Arena.
"It's very special to have them here," Newble said. "The Lost Boys have lived through a lot. None of us here can imagine what they've been through to come over here to this country. I wanted them to come enjoy a game, feel comfortable, feel at home."
Ngor Aguen, 27, came to Cleveland six years ago from Sudan with help from Catholic Charities. Wearing a blue Cavs hat and a wine-colored "Rise Up!" T-shirt, he met Newble for the first time Thursday night.
"He's got a heart," Aguen said. "He can see outside of here and say, 'What can I do to help?' God put it in his hands. I think he will be a messenger."
Newble plans a trip to Darfur in August.
The Darfur conflict began in 2003 when local rebels took up arms against the Sudanese government, accusing it of decades of neglect. Sudanese leaders are accused of unleashing the pro-government Arab militia, the janjaweed, to fight them -- a charge they deny.
------
HUGHES SITS AGAIN: Cavaliers starting point guard Larry Hughes was inactive for the second straight game with plantar fasciitis and a tear in his foot.
Hughes played through the injury in the first two games of the finals and looked slow, struggling to defend the speedy Tony Parker. He was 1-for-10 from the field.
Rookie Daniel Gibson again started in Hughes' absence. Gibson, a second-round draft pick from Texas, had been a pleasant surprise in the postseason, scoring 31 points in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Nicknamed "Boobie," he averaged 15.5 points in the first two games of the series, then went 1-for-10 from the field, including 0-for-5 from 3-point range, in Game 3.
Gibson was 4-for-10 and had 10 points in Game 4 and averaged 10.75 in the series.
------
MARRIAGE OF TWO MINDS: San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said his relationship with Spurs anchor Tim Duncan, besides that of player and coach, is like wedded bliss.
"I think when you've been with a player for a long time I think it's in a way like a marriage where respect grows, and that respect and trust is important to make it work," Popovich said before Game 4.
Popovich said a basketball relationship gets old over time. Duncan has been with the Spurs for all of his 10 seasons in the league.
"That's the way it's been with Timmy. Obviously I've been with him the longest," Popovich said. "Oftentimes we don't even have to speak. When you're with your best buddies, sometimes you don't say anything, you're just in the same room and you don't need to talk."
There's no escaping the fact that Duncan shares a few of Popovich's traits. They're both calm, cool and collected, and they're both known to say maxims like, "It is what it is."
"Oftentimes if he has a game that's not great, I don't say a word to him," Popovich said. "I don't say to him, well, Timmy, I think you should do this."
------
WINNING EITHER WAY: Much has been made of how Cleveland has tried to pattern itself after San Antonio. But the first three games of the NBA finals proved the Cavaliers have a long way to go before they can play the way the Spurs do offensively.
Cleveland was averaging just 80 points through the first three games, and a loss in Game 4 would almost certainly leave the Cavs as the worst offensive team ever in the finals. So coach Mike Brown was asked before the game what he would like to see differently next season.
"I want to be an opportunistic fastbreak team that attacks," he said. "Some of the better teams in the league are the ones that are capable of playing at a pace where both teams are going to score in the 100s. But then if they play a team that likes to grind it out and score in the 90s or the high 80s, they're capable of doing that. I'd like to be a team that can play any style on any given night."
San Antonio is one of them.
The Spurs are the league's best defensive team, but when they beat Phoenix in the second round, they showed they could win playing the high-scoring Suns' style. San Antonio scored 111, 108 and 114 points in victories.
"I love the pick-and-roll game. I love guys that know how to drive and kick," Brown said. "So we want to make sure that we head in that direction."
------
AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney and Associated Press Writer Elizabeth White contributed to this report.
Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.