duncan228
10-28-2007, 10:14 AM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/5250572.html
Spurs hope second verse is same as first
Only thing missing from dynastic résumé is back-to-back championships
By FRAN BLINEBURY
Houston Chronicle
They have Tim Duncan anchoring their lineup as the best power forward who ever played the game.
No question.
They have Tony Parker as the world's happiest newlywed with Eva Longoria as his bride and the MVP Trophy of the NBA Finals as his wedding present.
No question.
They have Manu Ginobili, still the bull in the Argentinian china shop, who can break open a game and a season in a flash.
No question.
In fact, there is only one question left to ask about the San Antonio Spurs: Are they a dynasty?
Four NBA championships in nine season would seem to say yes. But the niggling detail that they have never repeated leaves the subject open for debate.
On the eve of training camp, head coach Gregg Popovich, as usual, shrugged his shoulders and wondered if it's not a genetic problem.
Is there a back-to-back gene that's the missing part of San Antonio's DNA?
There certainly were specific reasons the Spurs did not defend their crown on each of their three previous attempts. In 1999, they lost Sean Elliott midway through the season to kidney disease. In 2003, they were done in by Derek Fisher's improbable heave with 0.4 seconds left that turned around a playoff series with the Lakers. In 2005, they would have won the Western Conference finals if Ginobili hadn't committed an unthinking foul that gave Dirk Nowitzki a three-point play at the end of Game 7.
"Everyone wants to talk about a dynasty," says Spurs owner Peter Holt. "All I want to do is repeat."
A year ago, there was much whispering about the Spurs maybe finally running out of gas, graying and growing old before the eyes of the league. If Dallas hadn't folded in the first round against Golden State, if the Mavs had remained the team that won the Southwest division by nine games, the Spurs might have rethought everything.
Eliminated by the same team for the second consecutive season, wouldn't it have been time for retooling?
Instead, the Spurs kept their heads while the Mavs were losing theirs, and grew stronger and stronger until they simply overwhelmed Cleveland in the Finals and then kept the team together. They retained Michael Finley, Robert Horry and Brent Barry, re-signed Matt Bonner and Fabricio Oberto, then extended Bruce Bowen.
With their experience — and with good health — would anyone bet against the Spurs in a seven-game series next spring?
San Antonio was always difficult enough to overcome when the solar system revolved around Duncan in the middle and Parker and Ginobili were just orbiting moons. But Ginobili stepped forward in the 2005 playoffs to show he is the kind of big-time performer who can carry a team himself. Now, following a year when he sat out international play to let his weary body recover, he is back and looking as strong as ever.
Then there is Parker, who preceded his walk down the aisle over the summer in Paris by striding boldly into the spotlight to outshine even LeBron James and is just entering his prime with a game that has become transcendant.
This is a lineup so solid that they're letting first-round draft pick Tiago Splitter ripen for another year in Europe and will likely have second-round pick Marcus Williams spend most of the season in the Development League. They did sign free agent Ime Udoka from Portland as a Bowen-in-waiting.
All in all, a team primed to finally repeat.
"If it doesn't happen, there will be no suicides on my watch," Popovich said. "But you have goals and then there are new goals. And then you reach those goals and somebody comes up with something else. But it's an even year, so it's tough for us. I don't know if it's genetic or what. But we're going to do our best and we're trying."
Meet the Spurs
San Antonio's probable starting five:
• F Tim Duncan, 6-11, 260 pounds: The yardstick by which all others are measured.
• F Bruce Bowen, 6-7, 200: Still the best perimeter defender in the league.
• C Fabricio Oberto, 6-10, 245: Does enough of the little things to be a big part of a champion.
• G Tony Parker, 6-2, 180: After winning Finals MVP and marrying Eva Longoria, can he get better?
• G Manu Ginobili, 6-6, 205: He's the hottest spice in San Antonio's salsa.
Spurs hope second verse is same as first
Only thing missing from dynastic résumé is back-to-back championships
By FRAN BLINEBURY
Houston Chronicle
They have Tim Duncan anchoring their lineup as the best power forward who ever played the game.
No question.
They have Tony Parker as the world's happiest newlywed with Eva Longoria as his bride and the MVP Trophy of the NBA Finals as his wedding present.
No question.
They have Manu Ginobili, still the bull in the Argentinian china shop, who can break open a game and a season in a flash.
No question.
In fact, there is only one question left to ask about the San Antonio Spurs: Are they a dynasty?
Four NBA championships in nine season would seem to say yes. But the niggling detail that they have never repeated leaves the subject open for debate.
On the eve of training camp, head coach Gregg Popovich, as usual, shrugged his shoulders and wondered if it's not a genetic problem.
Is there a back-to-back gene that's the missing part of San Antonio's DNA?
There certainly were specific reasons the Spurs did not defend their crown on each of their three previous attempts. In 1999, they lost Sean Elliott midway through the season to kidney disease. In 2003, they were done in by Derek Fisher's improbable heave with 0.4 seconds left that turned around a playoff series with the Lakers. In 2005, they would have won the Western Conference finals if Ginobili hadn't committed an unthinking foul that gave Dirk Nowitzki a three-point play at the end of Game 7.
"Everyone wants to talk about a dynasty," says Spurs owner Peter Holt. "All I want to do is repeat."
A year ago, there was much whispering about the Spurs maybe finally running out of gas, graying and growing old before the eyes of the league. If Dallas hadn't folded in the first round against Golden State, if the Mavs had remained the team that won the Southwest division by nine games, the Spurs might have rethought everything.
Eliminated by the same team for the second consecutive season, wouldn't it have been time for retooling?
Instead, the Spurs kept their heads while the Mavs were losing theirs, and grew stronger and stronger until they simply overwhelmed Cleveland in the Finals and then kept the team together. They retained Michael Finley, Robert Horry and Brent Barry, re-signed Matt Bonner and Fabricio Oberto, then extended Bruce Bowen.
With their experience — and with good health — would anyone bet against the Spurs in a seven-game series next spring?
San Antonio was always difficult enough to overcome when the solar system revolved around Duncan in the middle and Parker and Ginobili were just orbiting moons. But Ginobili stepped forward in the 2005 playoffs to show he is the kind of big-time performer who can carry a team himself. Now, following a year when he sat out international play to let his weary body recover, he is back and looking as strong as ever.
Then there is Parker, who preceded his walk down the aisle over the summer in Paris by striding boldly into the spotlight to outshine even LeBron James and is just entering his prime with a game that has become transcendant.
This is a lineup so solid that they're letting first-round draft pick Tiago Splitter ripen for another year in Europe and will likely have second-round pick Marcus Williams spend most of the season in the Development League. They did sign free agent Ime Udoka from Portland as a Bowen-in-waiting.
All in all, a team primed to finally repeat.
"If it doesn't happen, there will be no suicides on my watch," Popovich said. "But you have goals and then there are new goals. And then you reach those goals and somebody comes up with something else. But it's an even year, so it's tough for us. I don't know if it's genetic or what. But we're going to do our best and we're trying."
Meet the Spurs
San Antonio's probable starting five:
• F Tim Duncan, 6-11, 260 pounds: The yardstick by which all others are measured.
• F Bruce Bowen, 6-7, 200: Still the best perimeter defender in the league.
• C Fabricio Oberto, 6-10, 245: Does enough of the little things to be a big part of a champion.
• G Tony Parker, 6-2, 180: After winning Finals MVP and marrying Eva Longoria, can he get better?
• G Manu Ginobili, 6-6, 205: He's the hottest spice in San Antonio's salsa.