Sprs get back to basics
Duncan in spotlight as Spurs begin quest to retain NBA title
By PATRICK JOY
Wednesday, October 5th 2005
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Daily News Photo by SEAN McCOY St. Croix's Tim Duncan, left, battles San Antonio Spurs teammate Robert Horry during drills Tuesday at UVI.
ST. THOMAS - It could have been a gym anywhere in the world: the players working through three- and five-men weaves, facing down each other in one-on-one drills and stroking foul shot after foul shot as practice wound down.
But even in the isolated bubble of the gym, the location of the San Antonio Spurs' training camp was hard to ignore. The Spurs are in the Virgin Islands, and Tim Duncan is as close to home as he's been in a long time.
"You know Tim," said Spurs guard Manu Ginobili. "He's not necessarily going to show you. But when you talk to him and watch his body language, you can see how excited he is."
Spurs management and coach Gregg Popovich have said hosting camp on St. Thomas was a reward of sorts for Duncan, who helped San Antonio lock up the NBA Championship last year, earning MVP honors along the way. Duncan was soaking in the sights, sounds and smells of the island Tuesday - even if his teammates were just getting soaked in the steady drizzle of a tropical wave.
"I hope it clears up a bit," he said, noting that teammates were harassing him about the weather even before the plane landed Tuesday. "I've taken a lot of crap for that already."
The clouds did part a bit Tuesday afternoon as the Spurs wrapped up practice just after 2 p.m., and Popovich said the team's afternoon plans would likely be a bit different than an evening in San Antonio.
"Either get a massage or get to the beach, something Caribbean-like," he said. "We're very grateful. The food is great and the people are great and it's very private. It's all we could ask for. The facility is wonderful."
Popovich said he was ready for driving on the left side of the road - a trip to St. Croix to visit Duncan almost a decade ago provided a crash course in Virgin Islands driving.
"Nobody said a word," he said, explaining that he left the airport on the right side of the road. "I must have gesticulated at 10 people before I figured out I was the jerk. So, I remembered that."
Popovich will have to do no driving on his own on this trip. A police escort surrounding buses carried the Spurs to their two-hour practice Monday and will be shuttling them across the island this week. The Spurs said they have a boat trip and some community outreach planned for later in the week but did not release specific details. The training camp will culminate in an intra-squad scrimmage on Friday, an event Duncan said he is looking forward to.
"It'll be great," he said. "I'm just waiting to see what will happen. I don't even know what I'm in for."
Duncan praised the facilities at the University of the Virgin Islands, a message many of his teammate echoed.
"It's been tremendous all around," he said. "I knew it would be great. They've got a lot of baskets for us to work with."
The gymnasium Tuesday was packed with players, coaches and training personnel working through various drills and conditioning workouts. The first day of practice was also a chance for the Spurs' coaches to check out their recent high profile acquisitions, Nick Van Exel, Michael Finley and Fabricio Oberto. Popovich said it was too early for any real evaluations and he was pleased just to get through practice with all of his players intact.
"Nobody got hurt and everybody came into camp in relatively good shape," he said.
Also in good shape for Tuesday's practice was Duncan's hair. The medium-length Afro style cut and the scruffy half-beard garnered almost as many questions from the media as the Spurs far-flung camp location and many wondered if he'd be clean shaven or doing his best Ben Wallace impersonation by the end of the season.
Duncan said he was fashioning himself after Ginobli.
"I hope to look like him," he said. "When it gets long enough I'm going to put in some straightener and run and fling it around like him."
Forward Robert Horry said he was planning on riding Duncan's coattails all week.
"I'm going to be tagging along with him," he said. "I can tell it's a beautiful island. He's going to have an in on everything."
- Contact Patrick Joy at 774-8772 ext. 458 or e-mail
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