Spurs Brazil
01-31-2008, 02:26 PM
Skidding Spurs limp to Phoenix
Web Posted: 01/31/2008 12:22 AM CST
Mike Monroe
San Antonio Express-News
PHOENIX — The Spurs arrived here Wednesday afternoon amid Super Bowl hoopla that has turned the area around US Airways Center into a giant adult amusement park.
TV reporters at the Phoenix Suns midday practice were equally as interested in the players' predictions for Sunday's game between the New England Patriots and New York Giants as their preparations for tonight's game against the NBA's defending champions.
The big sports question this week for the local citizenry: How can I get into one of the Super Bowl parties?
Despite the best record in the NBA's Pacific Division, the Suns are little more than an afterthought in the Valley of the Sun this week, even when the team their fans love to hate comes to town.
A few Suns fans no doubt will fashion angry signs insulting Robert Horry, the author of the hip check on Steve Nash that many Suns loyalists are convinced cost their team a triumph in the Western Conference semifinals last spring.
They are sure to boo him when — and if — he gets in the game tonight.
Struggling through the worst season of his career, Horry laughs at the thought.
"I hope they waste all kinds of time making their little signs," he said. "It won't bother me a bit."
The Spurs have concerns greater than playing the role of villains in tonight's game. They have lost three-straight games for just the third time in the past four seasons. Not since January of 2001 have they lost four in a row in the regular season.
(Twice they lost four in a row to the Lakers in the playoffs since then, and counting the final three games of the regular season and Game 1 in the first round against the Nuggets last year, they lost four in a row.)
Stopping their skid in a road game against the Suns would not have been easy with a healthy roster. Add the absence of injured guards Tony Parker and Brent Barry and the task becomes daunting.
Parker and the Spurs await the results of an MRI exam the All-Star point guard underwent Wednesday to determine the nature of the pain in his left ankle and heel, which has limited his effectiveness. Barry did not make the three-game trip, nursing a strained left calf muscle.
If the timing of Spurs coach Gregg Popovich's decision to shut down Parker for a while seems odd, what with a game against the Suns on the horizon, his logic is faultless.
"He doesn't like it, but that's the way it's going to be, and he's going to sit," Popovich said in announcing his decision before Tuesday's game in Seattle. "I'd rather have that health come playoff time. If you don't have your health then, you can just start planning your vacation."
The Suns still consider the Spurs the team to beat if they want what the Spurs have — the Larry O'Brien Trophy that goes to the NBA champion.
Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni understands why Popovich wants Parker healthy for the playoffs, rather than gutting out a game in January.
"They have little gimps and stuff, but that doesn't fool us much," D'Antoni said. "They're still the world champions, and we've got to knock them off to win it. I fully expect (them) to be there when the (regular) season's over.
"If we catch them when they're a little down (tonight), great."
The question for the Spurs in a season that has produced the most competitive race ever in the Western Conference is this: How long they can go without one of their All-Stars without slipping too far in the standings?
"The NBA is getting tougher every year," Popovich said. "In the West you've got Utah and Houston that wouldn't even be in the playoffs if they started tomorrow — I think that's correct — and that's unbelievable."
In fact, Utah would be in now, in the fourth seed because they lead the Northwest Division. The Spurs, though, are closer to being out of the playoffs than being on top of their division.
"I don't think (missing the playoffs) is a concern for the Spurs, necessarily," said Phoenix' two-time MVP guard Steve Nash. "But if you see how many games it is from being second, third or fourth to being ninth, it's not that far.
"Conceivably, if the Hornets missed Chris (Paul) for three or four weeks, you'd like to think those guys would step up and stay right where they are, but they could be out of the picture.
"It is so competitive in the Western Conference, health is very important."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA013108.01C.BKN_spurs_story.en.3d75fc8.html
Web Posted: 01/31/2008 12:22 AM CST
Mike Monroe
San Antonio Express-News
PHOENIX — The Spurs arrived here Wednesday afternoon amid Super Bowl hoopla that has turned the area around US Airways Center into a giant adult amusement park.
TV reporters at the Phoenix Suns midday practice were equally as interested in the players' predictions for Sunday's game between the New England Patriots and New York Giants as their preparations for tonight's game against the NBA's defending champions.
The big sports question this week for the local citizenry: How can I get into one of the Super Bowl parties?
Despite the best record in the NBA's Pacific Division, the Suns are little more than an afterthought in the Valley of the Sun this week, even when the team their fans love to hate comes to town.
A few Suns fans no doubt will fashion angry signs insulting Robert Horry, the author of the hip check on Steve Nash that many Suns loyalists are convinced cost their team a triumph in the Western Conference semifinals last spring.
They are sure to boo him when — and if — he gets in the game tonight.
Struggling through the worst season of his career, Horry laughs at the thought.
"I hope they waste all kinds of time making their little signs," he said. "It won't bother me a bit."
The Spurs have concerns greater than playing the role of villains in tonight's game. They have lost three-straight games for just the third time in the past four seasons. Not since January of 2001 have they lost four in a row in the regular season.
(Twice they lost four in a row to the Lakers in the playoffs since then, and counting the final three games of the regular season and Game 1 in the first round against the Nuggets last year, they lost four in a row.)
Stopping their skid in a road game against the Suns would not have been easy with a healthy roster. Add the absence of injured guards Tony Parker and Brent Barry and the task becomes daunting.
Parker and the Spurs await the results of an MRI exam the All-Star point guard underwent Wednesday to determine the nature of the pain in his left ankle and heel, which has limited his effectiveness. Barry did not make the three-game trip, nursing a strained left calf muscle.
If the timing of Spurs coach Gregg Popovich's decision to shut down Parker for a while seems odd, what with a game against the Suns on the horizon, his logic is faultless.
"He doesn't like it, but that's the way it's going to be, and he's going to sit," Popovich said in announcing his decision before Tuesday's game in Seattle. "I'd rather have that health come playoff time. If you don't have your health then, you can just start planning your vacation."
The Suns still consider the Spurs the team to beat if they want what the Spurs have — the Larry O'Brien Trophy that goes to the NBA champion.
Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni understands why Popovich wants Parker healthy for the playoffs, rather than gutting out a game in January.
"They have little gimps and stuff, but that doesn't fool us much," D'Antoni said. "They're still the world champions, and we've got to knock them off to win it. I fully expect (them) to be there when the (regular) season's over.
"If we catch them when they're a little down (tonight), great."
The question for the Spurs in a season that has produced the most competitive race ever in the Western Conference is this: How long they can go without one of their All-Stars without slipping too far in the standings?
"The NBA is getting tougher every year," Popovich said. "In the West you've got Utah and Houston that wouldn't even be in the playoffs if they started tomorrow — I think that's correct — and that's unbelievable."
In fact, Utah would be in now, in the fourth seed because they lead the Northwest Division. The Spurs, though, are closer to being out of the playoffs than being on top of their division.
"I don't think (missing the playoffs) is a concern for the Spurs, necessarily," said Phoenix' two-time MVP guard Steve Nash. "But if you see how many games it is from being second, third or fourth to being ninth, it's not that far.
"Conceivably, if the Hornets missed Chris (Paul) for three or four weeks, you'd like to think those guys would step up and stay right where they are, but they could be out of the picture.
"It is so competitive in the Western Conference, health is very important."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[email protected]
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA013108.01C.BKN_spurs_story.en.3d75fc8.html