timvp
10-05-2007, 12:49 AM
Second-year players aim for breakthrough
Jeff McDonald
Express-News staff writer
Spurs guard Brent Barry compares playing basketball to riding a bicycle. To perform either pursuit well, you have to do so naturally and effortlessly.
For most players, coming to the Spurs for the first time can be akin learning to ride a bike in the middle of the Tour de France.
The Spurs' offensive and defensive systems are so complex, and so unlike most other teams', players often spend so much time thinking about when and where to move their feet that other riders pass them by.
It's why even the cagiest of veterans tend to struggle in their first season with the club. And it's why most first-year Spurs players can hardly wait for the day they become second-year Spurs players.
"You get to ride the bike again," Barry said, "instead of just thinking about when you're supposed to pedal."
Last season, center Fabricio Oberto became Exhibit A of the power of the Spurs' second-year syndrome. After spending his first year mired on the bench, Oberto emerged as a key contributor to the Spurs' title run last June.
Members of the latest class of second-year Spurs — Francisco Elson, Matt Bonner and Jacque Vaughn — are hoping to pedal that same path to playing time this year.
Elson, a 7-foot athletic center, is expected to see heavy minutes in rotation with Oberto. Bonner, a sharpshooting forward, could siphon time from an aging Robert Horry. Vaughn, who provided a steady hand behind Tony Parker at point guard last year, is positioned for a similar role this season.
Three days into training camp, the second-year Spurs are reporting a greater comfort level than at this time a year ago.
There is good reason for that. The Spurs boast one of the largest offensive playbooks in the NBA, while their defensive system can also skew toward the exotic.
"It takes some time to become familiar," coach Gregg Popovich said. "That familiarity is important."
Just ask Bonner, who at times last year felt as if he were being forced to learn a foreign language on the fly.
There were occasions when he seemed on the brink of co-opting Horry's role as a 3-point specialist off the bench. Bonner never did, mostly because he never quite became fluent in the Spurs' system.
"It's a lot to learn," Bonner said. "There are so many rules, and if you don't know them, or you have to stop and think about them, it's too late."
Elson can relate. He opened the season as the team's starting center but gave way to Oberto as the campaign moved along.
After three freewheeling seasons in Denver, Elson struggled to learn not just the Spurs' system, but any system.
"In Denver, we didn't really have a system," Elson said. "It was just go out there and play."
By year's end, the only first-year player contributing much was Vaughn, and that was because the Spurs had few other options behind Parker.
For the trio of Spurs angling for a second-year breakout, Oberto is the ultimate object lesson.
He languished on the bench in 2005-06, his first season with the club. Most of his development that year came behind the closed doors of the Spurs' practice facility.
"I was thinking all the time," Oberto said. "In basketball, you've got to play. You don't have time to think."
For the most part, all thinking went away for Oberto by the end of last season.
He was simply playing basketball. His production spiked, culminating in three double-digit scoring efforts and two double-digit rebounding nights in the Western Conference Finals.
The Spurs hope Elson, Bonner and Vaughn can enjoy the same breakthrough this season.
Between them, there should be less thinking, more reacting and, in the context of Barry's bicycle metaphor, more happy mindless pedaling.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA100507.Spurs2ndyear.en.343f909.html
Jeff McDonald
Express-News staff writer
Spurs guard Brent Barry compares playing basketball to riding a bicycle. To perform either pursuit well, you have to do so naturally and effortlessly.
For most players, coming to the Spurs for the first time can be akin learning to ride a bike in the middle of the Tour de France.
The Spurs' offensive and defensive systems are so complex, and so unlike most other teams', players often spend so much time thinking about when and where to move their feet that other riders pass them by.
It's why even the cagiest of veterans tend to struggle in their first season with the club. And it's why most first-year Spurs players can hardly wait for the day they become second-year Spurs players.
"You get to ride the bike again," Barry said, "instead of just thinking about when you're supposed to pedal."
Last season, center Fabricio Oberto became Exhibit A of the power of the Spurs' second-year syndrome. After spending his first year mired on the bench, Oberto emerged as a key contributor to the Spurs' title run last June.
Members of the latest class of second-year Spurs — Francisco Elson, Matt Bonner and Jacque Vaughn — are hoping to pedal that same path to playing time this year.
Elson, a 7-foot athletic center, is expected to see heavy minutes in rotation with Oberto. Bonner, a sharpshooting forward, could siphon time from an aging Robert Horry. Vaughn, who provided a steady hand behind Tony Parker at point guard last year, is positioned for a similar role this season.
Three days into training camp, the second-year Spurs are reporting a greater comfort level than at this time a year ago.
There is good reason for that. The Spurs boast one of the largest offensive playbooks in the NBA, while their defensive system can also skew toward the exotic.
"It takes some time to become familiar," coach Gregg Popovich said. "That familiarity is important."
Just ask Bonner, who at times last year felt as if he were being forced to learn a foreign language on the fly.
There were occasions when he seemed on the brink of co-opting Horry's role as a 3-point specialist off the bench. Bonner never did, mostly because he never quite became fluent in the Spurs' system.
"It's a lot to learn," Bonner said. "There are so many rules, and if you don't know them, or you have to stop and think about them, it's too late."
Elson can relate. He opened the season as the team's starting center but gave way to Oberto as the campaign moved along.
After three freewheeling seasons in Denver, Elson struggled to learn not just the Spurs' system, but any system.
"In Denver, we didn't really have a system," Elson said. "It was just go out there and play."
By year's end, the only first-year player contributing much was Vaughn, and that was because the Spurs had few other options behind Parker.
For the trio of Spurs angling for a second-year breakout, Oberto is the ultimate object lesson.
He languished on the bench in 2005-06, his first season with the club. Most of his development that year came behind the closed doors of the Spurs' practice facility.
"I was thinking all the time," Oberto said. "In basketball, you've got to play. You don't have time to think."
For the most part, all thinking went away for Oberto by the end of last season.
He was simply playing basketball. His production spiked, culminating in three double-digit scoring efforts and two double-digit rebounding nights in the Western Conference Finals.
The Spurs hope Elson, Bonner and Vaughn can enjoy the same breakthrough this season.
Between them, there should be less thinking, more reacting and, in the context of Barry's bicycle metaphor, more happy mindless pedaling.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA100507.Spurs2ndyear.en.343f909.html