Bruno
04-03-2008, 04:36 AM
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA040308.01D.BKNspurs.en.370d9f7.html
Web Posted: 04/02/2008 10:31 PM CDT
Jeff McDonald
San Antonio Express-News
Lawns around San Antonio are beginning to green. Trees are beginning to bud. The River Walk soon will start teeming with tourists.
It is April in San Antonio, which means one thing for the city's NBA franchise: Robert Horry, the Spurs' most decorated playoff performer, should start making big shots any day now.
Except Horry has spent the past six games in street clothes, nursing a left knee contusion that seems to be healing more slowly than expected.
It is an ill-timed setback in a season full of them for the 37-year-old reserve forward. With the playoffs just weeks away, Horry's latest misfortune has cast doubt on whether he will be able to reprise his annual role as a postseason shot-maker.
"I'm not sure where he is, health-wise," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "As far as whether he's going to be able to help or not, I just don't know."
Horry, who has played in a team-leading 229 postseason games, isn't the only playoff veteran in question as the Spurs churn down the home stretch.
Brent Barry hasn't played since re-signing with the team on March 23. He is still recovering from a torn calf muscle that knocked him out of commission in January.
As the Spurs have cruised to an eight-game winning streak, shifting further into playoff mode by the day, Horry and Barry — key supporting players on title teams in 2005 and 2007 — have been the forgotten men.
Both are expected to return before the regular season ends. Whether either player can find his rhythm in time to earn significant playoff minutes is the million-dollar question.
"Those guys are important to what we want to do," Tim Duncan said. "We hope to get them back and get a couple of games under their belt so they can shake some of the rust off."
Horry has played in 45 games this year, ensuring a career-low in what is expected to be his final NBA season.
Barry hasn't appeared in a game since Jan. 24. In the interim, Ime Udoka emerged as a pivotal piece of the Spurs' rotation.
Unlike with Horry, Popovich seems confident Barry, 36, will have some sort of role in the playoffs, though that role is loosely defined at this point.
"I think in every (playoff) round since I've been here, Brent gives us a game, and Robert's had some big ones too," Manu Ginobili said. "They are a big part of who we are."
Like most injured players, Barry and Horry have kept a low profile while nursing their various maladies. For both of them, it has been a season interrupted.
Barry was off to his best start as a Spur, averaging 7.7 points until hurting his calf on Dec. 26. He returned three weeks later, but aggravated the injury on Jan. 24.
He was still on the shelf a month later when the Spurs dealt him and Francisco Elson to Seattle for Kurt Thomas. Immediately waived by the SuperSonics, Barry waited the NBA-mandated 30 days and re-signed with the Spurs.
The ordeal wasn't all bad for Barry, or for his pocketbook. He received an extra season of guaranteed money for his trouble.
Under Barry's new two-year contract, the Spurs will pay him a pro-rated $179,351 for the rest of the season — on top of what's left of his $5.444 million guaranteed salary, which now comes from Seattle's coffers. Next year, Barry will earn an additional $1.262 million, the veteran minimum.
Still, spending nearly 21/2 months idle hasn't done much to keep Barry in a basketball groove. After a season pockmarked by injuries and personal travails, Horry has yet to find one.
He missed almost all of training camp tending to a sick daughter in Houston, and didn't play in his first regular-season game until December.
Horry finally seemed to discover some semblance of a rhythm during the rodeo road trip in February, but knee and hamstring woes hit in early March. He banged his knee March 21 against Sacramento and hasn't played since.
"He hasn't had a good stretch where he's been able to go," Popovich said. "It's too bad, because about a month ago he was starting to play well, and then he went down again."
Whether Horry can recover in time to provide another signature postseason moment remains to be seen. For now, his annual rite of spring is still on hold.
Web Posted: 04/02/2008 10:31 PM CDT
Jeff McDonald
San Antonio Express-News
Lawns around San Antonio are beginning to green. Trees are beginning to bud. The River Walk soon will start teeming with tourists.
It is April in San Antonio, which means one thing for the city's NBA franchise: Robert Horry, the Spurs' most decorated playoff performer, should start making big shots any day now.
Except Horry has spent the past six games in street clothes, nursing a left knee contusion that seems to be healing more slowly than expected.
It is an ill-timed setback in a season full of them for the 37-year-old reserve forward. With the playoffs just weeks away, Horry's latest misfortune has cast doubt on whether he will be able to reprise his annual role as a postseason shot-maker.
"I'm not sure where he is, health-wise," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "As far as whether he's going to be able to help or not, I just don't know."
Horry, who has played in a team-leading 229 postseason games, isn't the only playoff veteran in question as the Spurs churn down the home stretch.
Brent Barry hasn't played since re-signing with the team on March 23. He is still recovering from a torn calf muscle that knocked him out of commission in January.
As the Spurs have cruised to an eight-game winning streak, shifting further into playoff mode by the day, Horry and Barry — key supporting players on title teams in 2005 and 2007 — have been the forgotten men.
Both are expected to return before the regular season ends. Whether either player can find his rhythm in time to earn significant playoff minutes is the million-dollar question.
"Those guys are important to what we want to do," Tim Duncan said. "We hope to get them back and get a couple of games under their belt so they can shake some of the rust off."
Horry has played in 45 games this year, ensuring a career-low in what is expected to be his final NBA season.
Barry hasn't appeared in a game since Jan. 24. In the interim, Ime Udoka emerged as a pivotal piece of the Spurs' rotation.
Unlike with Horry, Popovich seems confident Barry, 36, will have some sort of role in the playoffs, though that role is loosely defined at this point.
"I think in every (playoff) round since I've been here, Brent gives us a game, and Robert's had some big ones too," Manu Ginobili said. "They are a big part of who we are."
Like most injured players, Barry and Horry have kept a low profile while nursing their various maladies. For both of them, it has been a season interrupted.
Barry was off to his best start as a Spur, averaging 7.7 points until hurting his calf on Dec. 26. He returned three weeks later, but aggravated the injury on Jan. 24.
He was still on the shelf a month later when the Spurs dealt him and Francisco Elson to Seattle for Kurt Thomas. Immediately waived by the SuperSonics, Barry waited the NBA-mandated 30 days and re-signed with the Spurs.
The ordeal wasn't all bad for Barry, or for his pocketbook. He received an extra season of guaranteed money for his trouble.
Under Barry's new two-year contract, the Spurs will pay him a pro-rated $179,351 for the rest of the season — on top of what's left of his $5.444 million guaranteed salary, which now comes from Seattle's coffers. Next year, Barry will earn an additional $1.262 million, the veteran minimum.
Still, spending nearly 21/2 months idle hasn't done much to keep Barry in a basketball groove. After a season pockmarked by injuries and personal travails, Horry has yet to find one.
He missed almost all of training camp tending to a sick daughter in Houston, and didn't play in his first regular-season game until December.
Horry finally seemed to discover some semblance of a rhythm during the rodeo road trip in February, but knee and hamstring woes hit in early March. He banged his knee March 21 against Sacramento and hasn't played since.
"He hasn't had a good stretch where he's been able to go," Popovich said. "It's too bad, because about a month ago he was starting to play well, and then he went down again."
Whether Horry can recover in time to provide another signature postseason moment remains to be seen. For now, his annual rite of spring is still on hold.