duncan228
05-02-2008, 12:45 AM
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA.050208.1DSpurs.en.3daf2bf.html
NBA: Horry in search of sweet ending with Spurs
By Jeff McDonald
San Antonio Express-News
The ball found Robert Horry on the left wing and, for a split second, it was 2005 all over again.
He raised up, uncoiling that long, familiar shooting stroke, and — as he had countless times in countless postseasons — lofted the Spalding toward the rim.
Horry's first field goal of these playoffs — in a Game 4 loss to Phoenix in the first round — didn't mean quite as much as other big shots fired in a career full of them. And yet, in the context of a farewell season that hasn't gone to plan, it meant everything.
“That game helped me a lot, because I got to play 20 minutes,” said Horry, who missed the final 13 games of the regular season with a bruised knee. “I shook off a lot of rust. I'm feeling good.”
A feeling-good Horry is a luxury for the Spurs as they head into the Western Conference semifinal series against New Orleans. It is also a luxury they haven't been afforded too often this year.
This season was supposed to be Horry's final loop around the NBA, his last step toward retirement, and it was supposed to be triumphant.
He'd spent 16 seasons Forrest Gumping his way through the league, collecting championship rings and clutch-shooting credentials in Houston, Los Angeles and San Antonio.
He has won more NBA titles than any active player (seven), made more playoff 3-pointers than any player in history and played in more playoff games than anybody outside of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
This season was supposed to be the cherry on top of all of that.
Instead, Horry spent almost half of it on the bench in a suit, disguised as the world's tallest accountant, collecting dust and rust.
“A frustrating year,” he said.
Horry, one of the most renowned playoff marksmen in NBA history, missed almost all the preseason dealing with a family emergency in Houston.
He didn't officially begin his farewell tour until Dec. 2. Then it was a strained hamstring here, a bruised knee there, always something to keep him sidelined.
Horry played in just 45 games during the regular season, averaging a career-low 2.5 points. The season-long ordeal, Horry jokes, has him re-thinking his retirement.
“The year was so crazy, so messed up, I can't end like that,” Horry said. “I've got to play four or five more years now.”
With Game 1 of the conference semifinal looming Saturday, the Spurs will be happy if they can get another good couple of weeks out of the 37-year-old reserve forward.
If the Phoenix series is any indication, Horry still has something to offer.
In Game 2, he made his first appearance since suffering a knee contusion on March 21. He didn't score, but did have an athletic block of Shaquille O'Neal that made him feel young again.
He knocked down a 3-pointer in Games 4 and 5, making the most of his minutes.
“You can see he's starting to turn a corner,” Tim Duncan said.
Horry and Brent Barry, another injury-riddled veteran of past Spurs' championship runs, both saw action against the Suns. As such, the Spurs' bench is longer now than it was before the playoffs began.
“They're in better shape now than they were,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “They're more available than they were in the first series.”
For Horry, every game counts. He needs to play in just five more to break Jabbar's all-time mark of 237 postseason appearances.
Even if he never makes another basket wearing silver and black, Horry will forever be remembered in Spurs lore.
It was his Hail Mary 3-pointer that forced overtime against Detroit in Game 5 of the 2005 NBA Finals, nudging the Spurs toward the pivotal victory in their quest for a third title.
Horry's teammates are confident there is another big playoff moment coming for the man known as “Big Shot Rob.”
“You never know what's going to happen,” point guard Tony Parker said, “but I know I'd rather have him on my team.”
Horry can only hope his farewell season ends better than it began. In the back of his mind, he envisions one last parting shot.
The ball will find him in another clutch moment. He will uncoil that familiar shooting stroke. What happens next, one can only guess.
Horry says he knows.
“But I can't tell you, because it will mess up my book,” he said.
NBA: Horry in search of sweet ending with Spurs
By Jeff McDonald
San Antonio Express-News
The ball found Robert Horry on the left wing and, for a split second, it was 2005 all over again.
He raised up, uncoiling that long, familiar shooting stroke, and — as he had countless times in countless postseasons — lofted the Spalding toward the rim.
Horry's first field goal of these playoffs — in a Game 4 loss to Phoenix in the first round — didn't mean quite as much as other big shots fired in a career full of them. And yet, in the context of a farewell season that hasn't gone to plan, it meant everything.
“That game helped me a lot, because I got to play 20 minutes,” said Horry, who missed the final 13 games of the regular season with a bruised knee. “I shook off a lot of rust. I'm feeling good.”
A feeling-good Horry is a luxury for the Spurs as they head into the Western Conference semifinal series against New Orleans. It is also a luxury they haven't been afforded too often this year.
This season was supposed to be Horry's final loop around the NBA, his last step toward retirement, and it was supposed to be triumphant.
He'd spent 16 seasons Forrest Gumping his way through the league, collecting championship rings and clutch-shooting credentials in Houston, Los Angeles and San Antonio.
He has won more NBA titles than any active player (seven), made more playoff 3-pointers than any player in history and played in more playoff games than anybody outside of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
This season was supposed to be the cherry on top of all of that.
Instead, Horry spent almost half of it on the bench in a suit, disguised as the world's tallest accountant, collecting dust and rust.
“A frustrating year,” he said.
Horry, one of the most renowned playoff marksmen in NBA history, missed almost all the preseason dealing with a family emergency in Houston.
He didn't officially begin his farewell tour until Dec. 2. Then it was a strained hamstring here, a bruised knee there, always something to keep him sidelined.
Horry played in just 45 games during the regular season, averaging a career-low 2.5 points. The season-long ordeal, Horry jokes, has him re-thinking his retirement.
“The year was so crazy, so messed up, I can't end like that,” Horry said. “I've got to play four or five more years now.”
With Game 1 of the conference semifinal looming Saturday, the Spurs will be happy if they can get another good couple of weeks out of the 37-year-old reserve forward.
If the Phoenix series is any indication, Horry still has something to offer.
In Game 2, he made his first appearance since suffering a knee contusion on March 21. He didn't score, but did have an athletic block of Shaquille O'Neal that made him feel young again.
He knocked down a 3-pointer in Games 4 and 5, making the most of his minutes.
“You can see he's starting to turn a corner,” Tim Duncan said.
Horry and Brent Barry, another injury-riddled veteran of past Spurs' championship runs, both saw action against the Suns. As such, the Spurs' bench is longer now than it was before the playoffs began.
“They're in better shape now than they were,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “They're more available than they were in the first series.”
For Horry, every game counts. He needs to play in just five more to break Jabbar's all-time mark of 237 postseason appearances.
Even if he never makes another basket wearing silver and black, Horry will forever be remembered in Spurs lore.
It was his Hail Mary 3-pointer that forced overtime against Detroit in Game 5 of the 2005 NBA Finals, nudging the Spurs toward the pivotal victory in their quest for a third title.
Horry's teammates are confident there is another big playoff moment coming for the man known as “Big Shot Rob.”
“You never know what's going to happen,” point guard Tony Parker said, “but I know I'd rather have him on my team.”
Horry can only hope his farewell season ends better than it began. In the back of his mind, he envisions one last parting shot.
The ball will find him in another clutch moment. He will uncoil that familiar shooting stroke. What happens next, one can only guess.
Horry says he knows.
“But I can't tell you, because it will mess up my book,” he said.