some_user86
12-24-2007, 04:35 AM
Mike Finger: AJ's struggle foreign to many of current Spurs
Web Posted: 12/23/2007 12:37 AM CST
San Antonio Express-News
By the time the spotlight panned to the rafters and the AT&T Center's newest retired jersey was unveiled, many members of the 2007-08 Spurs already were gone. They'd filed out of the building one by one, hearing the tributes and applause echo from the floor of the arena but not stopping long enough to soak it all in.
None of those who left had ever known Avery Johnson as anything other than an adversary. The only current Spur to have played with the Little General is Tim Duncan, who was part of the ceremony. So as dignitaries and former players praised Johnson for all he'd overcome —the rejection, the disrespect, the failures, the lack of natural ability — the new Spurs' disinterest was understandable.
"Most of the guys in this locker room now," Bruce Bowen said, "don't relate."
Bowen, with his A.J.-like small-college, NBA-journeyman background, is the exception. He said he's used Johnson as an inspiration because of their "common threads," which is why he made a point of sticking around to watch Saturday night's ceremony even though they were never teammates.
As for the rest of these mid-dynasty Spurs? It's easy to see why they aren't as readily inspired. At about the same age Johnson was when he became unemployed on a Christmas Eve, Tony Parker already has three championships, an NBA Finals MVP award and a Hollywood starlet wife.
But on the 1999 championship team that cemented Johnson's legacy, it wasn't only the little point guard who had to overcome. On the dais Saturday night was a 7-footer who'd been humbled by Hakeem Olajuwon and had his heart questioned, as well as a former small forward who'd been ingloriously shipped to Detroit and all but left for dead.
They had strong personalities, and when they came together, the results might not have been as consistently successful as the current Spurs. But as they proved again Saturday, they were always entertaining.
The camaraderie is still tangible, and if it seems like the emotional attachment between Johnson and David Robinson and Sean Elliott is easier to see than the one between Duncan and Parker and Manu Ginobili, there's a reason for it.
"The guys now didn't have to go through what we had to go through," Elliott said. "They never had to hear everyone say they didn't have what it takes to win a championship. And that's probably because they're better than we were."
They're also more guarded about sharing their personalities, which is one way Johnson's legacy didn't trickle down. Whereas Johnson's Spurs filled up reporters' notebooks and shook maracas for Taco Cabana and revved up crowds with "Y'all ready for this?," the Duncan-Parker-Ginobili Spurs are tame by comparison.
"We seem to be teetering on the edge of boredom most of the year," guard Brent Barry said, "and that's pretty much the way our guys like it."
Much is made of doing things "the Spurs' way," and much of that has carried over from the first championship to the fourth. But even though Gregg Popovich doesn't like to compare teams from different eras, he concedes the atmosphere has changed in eight years.
"That particular team (in 1999) had Avery's personality stamped all over it," Popovich said. "He was a very focused player and a very demanding player, which is unique, because he wasn't that good."
The Spurs' leaders now don't have that problem. They let their accomplishments and their ability speak for them, which is a luxury Johnson didn't always have.
But as he hurried down the hall from the locker room to the ceremony, Duncan wanted to make something clear.
"The voices have changed," Duncan said, "but Avery's voice still echoes."
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LINK: http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA122307.11C.COL.BKNfinger.spurs.2fab6f6.html
Web Posted: 12/23/2007 12:37 AM CST
San Antonio Express-News
By the time the spotlight panned to the rafters and the AT&T Center's newest retired jersey was unveiled, many members of the 2007-08 Spurs already were gone. They'd filed out of the building one by one, hearing the tributes and applause echo from the floor of the arena but not stopping long enough to soak it all in.
None of those who left had ever known Avery Johnson as anything other than an adversary. The only current Spur to have played with the Little General is Tim Duncan, who was part of the ceremony. So as dignitaries and former players praised Johnson for all he'd overcome —the rejection, the disrespect, the failures, the lack of natural ability — the new Spurs' disinterest was understandable.
"Most of the guys in this locker room now," Bruce Bowen said, "don't relate."
Bowen, with his A.J.-like small-college, NBA-journeyman background, is the exception. He said he's used Johnson as an inspiration because of their "common threads," which is why he made a point of sticking around to watch Saturday night's ceremony even though they were never teammates.
As for the rest of these mid-dynasty Spurs? It's easy to see why they aren't as readily inspired. At about the same age Johnson was when he became unemployed on a Christmas Eve, Tony Parker already has three championships, an NBA Finals MVP award and a Hollywood starlet wife.
But on the 1999 championship team that cemented Johnson's legacy, it wasn't only the little point guard who had to overcome. On the dais Saturday night was a 7-footer who'd been humbled by Hakeem Olajuwon and had his heart questioned, as well as a former small forward who'd been ingloriously shipped to Detroit and all but left for dead.
They had strong personalities, and when they came together, the results might not have been as consistently successful as the current Spurs. But as they proved again Saturday, they were always entertaining.
The camaraderie is still tangible, and if it seems like the emotional attachment between Johnson and David Robinson and Sean Elliott is easier to see than the one between Duncan and Parker and Manu Ginobili, there's a reason for it.
"The guys now didn't have to go through what we had to go through," Elliott said. "They never had to hear everyone say they didn't have what it takes to win a championship. And that's probably because they're better than we were."
They're also more guarded about sharing their personalities, which is one way Johnson's legacy didn't trickle down. Whereas Johnson's Spurs filled up reporters' notebooks and shook maracas for Taco Cabana and revved up crowds with "Y'all ready for this?," the Duncan-Parker-Ginobili Spurs are tame by comparison.
"We seem to be teetering on the edge of boredom most of the year," guard Brent Barry said, "and that's pretty much the way our guys like it."
Much is made of doing things "the Spurs' way," and much of that has carried over from the first championship to the fourth. But even though Gregg Popovich doesn't like to compare teams from different eras, he concedes the atmosphere has changed in eight years.
"That particular team (in 1999) had Avery's personality stamped all over it," Popovich said. "He was a very focused player and a very demanding player, which is unique, because he wasn't that good."
The Spurs' leaders now don't have that problem. They let their accomplishments and their ability speak for them, which is a luxury Johnson didn't always have.
But as he hurried down the hall from the locker room to the ceremony, Duncan wanted to make something clear.
"The voices have changed," Duncan said, "but Avery's voice still echoes."
[email protected]
LINK: http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA122307.11C.COL.BKNfinger.spurs.2fab6f6.html