duncan228
02-08-2008, 01:03 PM
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/2008-02-07-duncan-shaq_N.htm
Spurs not spinning over moves of Lakers, Suns
One NBA team was keenly interested in the whopper deals a pair of contending Western Conference teams pulled off the last week. Yes, folks, those old, boring and utterly reliable San Antonio Spurs, defending champions and winners of three of the last five NBA crowns, took notes on the high-profile acquisitions by those who seek to thwart their dynastic ambitions.
Hey, Pops, it's your turn to bust a move.
"I never feel pressure to make a deal," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "We talk to everybody, just like the other 29 teams. If something makes sense, we'll do it. But making deals because you feel pressure is a recipe for failure."
The Spurs did sign point guard Damon Stoudamire last week, and he's started the last two games, both wins, for injured Tony Parker.
The task for San Antonio, and every other competitive team in the West, has become that much more daunting now that Pau Gasol and Shaquille O'Neal are wintering in California and Arizona, respectively. As the Spurs' Robert Horry observed, "The whole complexion of the West has been changed."
"Now you've got to really watch and scout them," he said. "You don't know how those players are going to interact, what kind of chemistry they will have."
Last week, the Los Angeles Lakers traded for Gasol, who seems an ideal match, giving the team a formidable frontcourt that includes Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum, when he returns from injury.
This week, in what some deemed a desperation move, the Phoenix Suns, with the best record in the West but ousted three of the last four postseasons by the Spurs, landed O'Neal. On paper, the lumbering veteran center seems an imperfect fit in the team's frantic offensive style.
The Spurs' Tim Duncan said he believed the deal was done, in part, to thwart his own dominant inside presence.
"I've got to imagine that was the point of it," he said.
The Spurs, whose play has been sporadic because of injuries to key players, are seeded fifth in the West, and the trades make it "even tougher than it already was — for everybody," Popovich said.
"No. 1, I think they both deserve credit for being creative and thinking out of the box — especially Phoenix," Popovich said. "That's something nobody would've expected, really. They're just laying it out there and going after it, and you have to respect that.
"As far as the Lakers are concerned, they just got whole real quick. They'll be one hell of a team with (coach Phil Jackson's) offense and the way Pau fits into that. They're going to be just dynamite. Phoenix might take a little bit more time to work things through. Losing a perimeter guy like (Shawn Marion) and adding a great big guy like Shaq will take a little bit more adjustment."
Suns general manager Steve Kerr, assessing the move, told ESPN.com, "If it works, I'm a genius. If it doesn't, I'm a moron, I guess."
Spurs not spinning over moves of Lakers, Suns
One NBA team was keenly interested in the whopper deals a pair of contending Western Conference teams pulled off the last week. Yes, folks, those old, boring and utterly reliable San Antonio Spurs, defending champions and winners of three of the last five NBA crowns, took notes on the high-profile acquisitions by those who seek to thwart their dynastic ambitions.
Hey, Pops, it's your turn to bust a move.
"I never feel pressure to make a deal," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "We talk to everybody, just like the other 29 teams. If something makes sense, we'll do it. But making deals because you feel pressure is a recipe for failure."
The Spurs did sign point guard Damon Stoudamire last week, and he's started the last two games, both wins, for injured Tony Parker.
The task for San Antonio, and every other competitive team in the West, has become that much more daunting now that Pau Gasol and Shaquille O'Neal are wintering in California and Arizona, respectively. As the Spurs' Robert Horry observed, "The whole complexion of the West has been changed."
"Now you've got to really watch and scout them," he said. "You don't know how those players are going to interact, what kind of chemistry they will have."
Last week, the Los Angeles Lakers traded for Gasol, who seems an ideal match, giving the team a formidable frontcourt that includes Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum, when he returns from injury.
This week, in what some deemed a desperation move, the Phoenix Suns, with the best record in the West but ousted three of the last four postseasons by the Spurs, landed O'Neal. On paper, the lumbering veteran center seems an imperfect fit in the team's frantic offensive style.
The Spurs' Tim Duncan said he believed the deal was done, in part, to thwart his own dominant inside presence.
"I've got to imagine that was the point of it," he said.
The Spurs, whose play has been sporadic because of injuries to key players, are seeded fifth in the West, and the trades make it "even tougher than it already was — for everybody," Popovich said.
"No. 1, I think they both deserve credit for being creative and thinking out of the box — especially Phoenix," Popovich said. "That's something nobody would've expected, really. They're just laying it out there and going after it, and you have to respect that.
"As far as the Lakers are concerned, they just got whole real quick. They'll be one hell of a team with (coach Phil Jackson's) offense and the way Pau fits into that. They're going to be just dynamite. Phoenix might take a little bit more time to work things through. Losing a perimeter guy like (Shawn Marion) and adding a great big guy like Shaq will take a little bit more adjustment."
Suns general manager Steve Kerr, assessing the move, told ESPN.com, "If it works, I'm a genius. If it doesn't, I'm a moron, I guess."