duncan228
03-04-2008, 01:00 PM
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA030408.Spurs_Nets_advance.en.38066d3.html
NBA: Newest Spurs learning on the fly
Stoudamire, Thomas trying best to fit in.
Jeff McDonald
Express-News Staff Writer
There was no elaborate ceremony, no stage to walk, no need to for him to don a cap and gown.
But, all things considered, Spurs point guard Damon Stoudamire felt like he passed an important milestone last week.
"I graduated from Coach Bud class," Stoudamire said with a wall-to-wall grin.
Coach Bud would be Spurs assistant coach Mike Budenholzer, who for the past month had served as a sort of basketball professor, guiding the newly acquired Stoudamire through a crash course in Spurs Offense 101.
Stoudamire, signed Feb. 4 after being waived by Memphis, has spent every spare moment either on the practice floor with Budenholzer or in the film room, drilling through the intricacies of his new team's schemes.
"I've got it down now," Stoudamire said. "Unless they put something in the day of the game."
Now, it's Kurt Thomas' turn to learn.
Thomas, a 6-foot-9 forward picked up in a Feb. 20 trade deadline swap with Seattle, is in Stoudamire's shoes from two weeks ago.
Since arriving in San Antonio, Thomas hasn't found time to move out of his hotel room or retrieve his belongings from Seattle. He's been too busy trying to adjust to life with the Spurs.
"There's been a lot to learn," Thomas said.
As the calendar page flips to March and the NBA schedule careens down the home stretch, the project of initiating their two newest players stands near the top of the Spurs' to-do list. The process continues tonight, when the team puts its nine-game winning streak on the line against New Jersey at the AT&T Center in a sudden rematch of Sunday's 93-83 road victory over the Nets.
The crash courses are not unlike those being taught by other powers in a Western Conference remade by a rash of wheeling and dealing last month.
The Lakers are working on integrating Pau Gasol and must further adjust when injured center Andrew Bynum returns in April. Phoenix is still apparently engulfed in the error portion of the Shaquille O'Neal trial-and-error experiment. Dallas must congeal around a new old point guard after the return of Jason Kidd.
"That's what's most interesting about the end of this season," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "Before, by this time, teams were all set. Everybody knew everybody."
And now?
"Everyone's in a different situation," Popovich said. "They're still trying to find their rotation and their rhythm and get people familiar with each other."
On the surface, the Spurs should have an easier time adjusting than most. Their new additions are side dishes, not centerpieces.
In order to accelerate the leaning curve, Popovich has wasted little time throwing his new additions into the fray.
Two days after he signed with the Spurs, Stoudamire was starting a game at Indiana. When Tony Parker returned from the injured list 11 days ago, many of the backup minutes that had been going to Jacque Vaughn went to Stoudamire.
"Otherwise, by the time we get to the playoffs, Damon won't know what the hell he's doing," Popovich said.
Thomas, meanwhile, earned his first start Sunday in New Jersey. He hit his first three field goals, finishing with six points in 17 minutes, 29 seconds — the longest stint of his Spurs career.
Still, there were reminders that Thomas has been with the team for less than two weeks. One came in the first quarter, when Parker blew by his man and seemed to have Thomas open for a layup. The two could not connect, and Parker's pass sailed out of bounds.
"It takes a while to adjust to playing with new people," Thomas said.
Stoudamire has compared joining the Spurs to learning a foreign language on the fly. Thomas' experience has been similar. The new language he's been forced to learn is sign language.
"Just trying to pick up Pop and all his different signs, that's been the most difficult thing," Thomas said. "Sometimes, I still get a little confused at times."
And so for Thomas, the education goes on. Graduation day, he hopes, is just around the corner.
NBA: Newest Spurs learning on the fly
Stoudamire, Thomas trying best to fit in.
Jeff McDonald
Express-News Staff Writer
There was no elaborate ceremony, no stage to walk, no need to for him to don a cap and gown.
But, all things considered, Spurs point guard Damon Stoudamire felt like he passed an important milestone last week.
"I graduated from Coach Bud class," Stoudamire said with a wall-to-wall grin.
Coach Bud would be Spurs assistant coach Mike Budenholzer, who for the past month had served as a sort of basketball professor, guiding the newly acquired Stoudamire through a crash course in Spurs Offense 101.
Stoudamire, signed Feb. 4 after being waived by Memphis, has spent every spare moment either on the practice floor with Budenholzer or in the film room, drilling through the intricacies of his new team's schemes.
"I've got it down now," Stoudamire said. "Unless they put something in the day of the game."
Now, it's Kurt Thomas' turn to learn.
Thomas, a 6-foot-9 forward picked up in a Feb. 20 trade deadline swap with Seattle, is in Stoudamire's shoes from two weeks ago.
Since arriving in San Antonio, Thomas hasn't found time to move out of his hotel room or retrieve his belongings from Seattle. He's been too busy trying to adjust to life with the Spurs.
"There's been a lot to learn," Thomas said.
As the calendar page flips to March and the NBA schedule careens down the home stretch, the project of initiating their two newest players stands near the top of the Spurs' to-do list. The process continues tonight, when the team puts its nine-game winning streak on the line against New Jersey at the AT&T Center in a sudden rematch of Sunday's 93-83 road victory over the Nets.
The crash courses are not unlike those being taught by other powers in a Western Conference remade by a rash of wheeling and dealing last month.
The Lakers are working on integrating Pau Gasol and must further adjust when injured center Andrew Bynum returns in April. Phoenix is still apparently engulfed in the error portion of the Shaquille O'Neal trial-and-error experiment. Dallas must congeal around a new old point guard after the return of Jason Kidd.
"That's what's most interesting about the end of this season," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "Before, by this time, teams were all set. Everybody knew everybody."
And now?
"Everyone's in a different situation," Popovich said. "They're still trying to find their rotation and their rhythm and get people familiar with each other."
On the surface, the Spurs should have an easier time adjusting than most. Their new additions are side dishes, not centerpieces.
In order to accelerate the leaning curve, Popovich has wasted little time throwing his new additions into the fray.
Two days after he signed with the Spurs, Stoudamire was starting a game at Indiana. When Tony Parker returned from the injured list 11 days ago, many of the backup minutes that had been going to Jacque Vaughn went to Stoudamire.
"Otherwise, by the time we get to the playoffs, Damon won't know what the hell he's doing," Popovich said.
Thomas, meanwhile, earned his first start Sunday in New Jersey. He hit his first three field goals, finishing with six points in 17 minutes, 29 seconds — the longest stint of his Spurs career.
Still, there were reminders that Thomas has been with the team for less than two weeks. One came in the first quarter, when Parker blew by his man and seemed to have Thomas open for a layup. The two could not connect, and Parker's pass sailed out of bounds.
"It takes a while to adjust to playing with new people," Thomas said.
Stoudamire has compared joining the Spurs to learning a foreign language on the fly. Thomas' experience has been similar. The new language he's been forced to learn is sign language.
"Just trying to pick up Pop and all his different signs, that's been the most difficult thing," Thomas said. "Sometimes, I still get a little confused at times."
And so for Thomas, the education goes on. Graduation day, he hopes, is just around the corner.