Kori Ellis
01-10-2005, 02:48 AM
Hunted feels new for Spurs
Web Posted: 01/10/2005 12:00 AM CST
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA011004.1D.spurs.903e2533.html
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
SALT LAKE CITY — Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has seen the standings as well as the headlines. He has listened to the analysts praise his team for its ball movement and commitment to defense. He has heard about the opposing coaches who claim the Spurs don't appear to have a single weakness.
Popovich also has seen a few other things. Denver forward Kenyon Martin scored a season-high 26 points, diving over the scorer's table for a pass. Sacramento, its roster thinned by injuries, refused to wilt under a fourth-quarter run by the Spurs. Indiana forward Jermaine O'Neal made one mid-range shot after another, flipping in hooks with either hand.
Sometimes it's enough to make Popovich smile.
"What better laboratory is there than having everybody wanting to come and beat us because of what everybody says about us, that we're this hellacious team?" Popovich said. "No team is as good as they're talked about, but I love this because it's better than any practice we could have.
"You need to embrace that and enjoy that. That can really make us good by the playoffs."
Provided, Popovich said, the Spurs maintain their focus. Of the Spurs' 28 victories, 21 have been decided by 13 points or more. Not only is their 11.7-point margin of victory tops in the league, it would rank as the fourth-greatest in NBA history if the season ended today.
The season, however, doesn't end for 14 weeks. For a team that usually doesn't surge up the standings until March, the Spurs are more accustomed to hunting than being hunted.
After the Spurs' first loss, a listless performance in Seattle, Popovich had bright red bull's-eyes taped to each player's chair in the locker room. Two months later, they remain one of the league's top targets.
"Everybody is going to bring their best game against us, and we have to match that emotion," Popovich said. "Sometimes it's tough, and I realize that. Nevertheless, you still want them to bring it every time."
That includes tonight, when the Spurs face Utah, a team they have beaten 18 consecutive times. The Jazz also have more problems than the Spurs, having lost nine-straight games and 19 of 22 since forward Andrei Kirilenko hurt his knee at the SBC Center on Nov.27.
Perhaps concerned about a letdown, Popovich chided the Spurs after Saturday's victory over Denver. In the past two games, he has seen signs of the team's concentration slipping: a forced pass into three defenders; a hurried 3-pointer; someone switching on a pick-and-roll when no switch was called.
"Every once in a while you have a down night or a down quarter where you might not bring it as much as Pop might want," Tim Duncan said. "We're trying to keep that focus and have that energy every night, and stay within ourselves and play within the game plan we have.
"We hope that will take care of the down times where we don't bring that energy we need."
The Spurs' loss to Sacramento on Jan. 2, Popovich thinks, was more valuable than their 34-point rout of Portland three nights earlier. It allowed them, he said, to see what they did wrong against a team that played hard the entire game.
"We can't think anyone is going to lay down or we're going to have an easy one," Popovich said. "You'll have an easy one if you embrace the fact that people are coming at you. You should be almost angry if they don't bring it because that's a wasted night for us."
With the Los Angeles Lakers having scattered, the Spurs are receiving more attention than they're used to this early in the season. But as well as they occasionally have played, the challenge is for them to show day-to-day improvement.
Even if someone else considers them the Team to Beat.
"It means nothing if you don't go on further and maybe get a championship," Bruce Bowen said. "If you don't do that, it's all for naught."
Web Posted: 01/10/2005 12:00 AM CST
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA011004.1D.spurs.903e2533.html
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
SALT LAKE CITY — Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has seen the standings as well as the headlines. He has listened to the analysts praise his team for its ball movement and commitment to defense. He has heard about the opposing coaches who claim the Spurs don't appear to have a single weakness.
Popovich also has seen a few other things. Denver forward Kenyon Martin scored a season-high 26 points, diving over the scorer's table for a pass. Sacramento, its roster thinned by injuries, refused to wilt under a fourth-quarter run by the Spurs. Indiana forward Jermaine O'Neal made one mid-range shot after another, flipping in hooks with either hand.
Sometimes it's enough to make Popovich smile.
"What better laboratory is there than having everybody wanting to come and beat us because of what everybody says about us, that we're this hellacious team?" Popovich said. "No team is as good as they're talked about, but I love this because it's better than any practice we could have.
"You need to embrace that and enjoy that. That can really make us good by the playoffs."
Provided, Popovich said, the Spurs maintain their focus. Of the Spurs' 28 victories, 21 have been decided by 13 points or more. Not only is their 11.7-point margin of victory tops in the league, it would rank as the fourth-greatest in NBA history if the season ended today.
The season, however, doesn't end for 14 weeks. For a team that usually doesn't surge up the standings until March, the Spurs are more accustomed to hunting than being hunted.
After the Spurs' first loss, a listless performance in Seattle, Popovich had bright red bull's-eyes taped to each player's chair in the locker room. Two months later, they remain one of the league's top targets.
"Everybody is going to bring their best game against us, and we have to match that emotion," Popovich said. "Sometimes it's tough, and I realize that. Nevertheless, you still want them to bring it every time."
That includes tonight, when the Spurs face Utah, a team they have beaten 18 consecutive times. The Jazz also have more problems than the Spurs, having lost nine-straight games and 19 of 22 since forward Andrei Kirilenko hurt his knee at the SBC Center on Nov.27.
Perhaps concerned about a letdown, Popovich chided the Spurs after Saturday's victory over Denver. In the past two games, he has seen signs of the team's concentration slipping: a forced pass into three defenders; a hurried 3-pointer; someone switching on a pick-and-roll when no switch was called.
"Every once in a while you have a down night or a down quarter where you might not bring it as much as Pop might want," Tim Duncan said. "We're trying to keep that focus and have that energy every night, and stay within ourselves and play within the game plan we have.
"We hope that will take care of the down times where we don't bring that energy we need."
The Spurs' loss to Sacramento on Jan. 2, Popovich thinks, was more valuable than their 34-point rout of Portland three nights earlier. It allowed them, he said, to see what they did wrong against a team that played hard the entire game.
"We can't think anyone is going to lay down or we're going to have an easy one," Popovich said. "You'll have an easy one if you embrace the fact that people are coming at you. You should be almost angry if they don't bring it because that's a wasted night for us."
With the Los Angeles Lakers having scattered, the Spurs are receiving more attention than they're used to this early in the season. But as well as they occasionally have played, the challenge is for them to show day-to-day improvement.
Even if someone else considers them the Team to Beat.
"It means nothing if you don't go on further and maybe get a championship," Bruce Bowen said. "If you don't do that, it's all for naught."