Savvy-veteran role filled again with Spurs

[Kori Ellis]

Savvy-veteran role filled again with Spurs
Web Posted: 10/19/2004 12:00 AM CDT

Mike Monroe
San Antonio Express-News

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b...rs.a3a24e.html

When the Spurs opted to part company with 42-year-old center Kevin Willis this summer, an opening was created on the 2004-05 roster for a specific type of player: A savvy, veteran big man hungry for a championship ring after a long career without one.

Compared to Willis, 37-year-old Tony Massenburg is a fresh-faced youth.

Massenburg returns to the Spurs, for whom he began his NBA career, after a season in Sacramento that was productive, but frustrating. When the Spurs meet the Phoenix Suns in their preseason home opener at the SBC Center tonight, he will be playing his first game in San Antonio in Spurs silver and black since 1991.

One of only two players — Chucky Brown is the other — to have played for 12 different NBA teams, Massenburg hopes he can repeat the experience that Willis had in his first season on the Spurs' roster. Willis won a championship in 2002-03 after a long, distinguished career without ever having even played in the NBA Finals.

"That's the ultimate goal," said Massenburg, a second-round pick of the Spurs in 1990 out of Maryland. "When you've been playing 15 years, you've obviously played a lot of basketball. As the years start to wind down, you really want to focus on trying to get a ring, at least putting yourself in that position to get one.

"I'm in that position now, and that's what my goal is this year: Help this team win and do whatever I can."

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said Massenburg seemed a perfect fit to replace Willis.

"We have a great combination of veterans we've brought in," Popovich said. "Brent Barry is a great vet, and I thought, since we weren't going to have Kevin Willis this season, that we needed to have another person in that position, a guy who could lay a little lumber on somebody and who understood how to play the game.

"Tony has been a great professional his whole career and finally, contractually, it worked out to where we had some room to do it. We were happy to be able to bring him in."

At 6-foot-9 and 250 pounds, Massenburg is more suited to play power forward, but he has played center in the past. He will be used some at center this season, too, much in the manner Willis was used last season.

"Tony's coming with an idea he wants to compete for more minutes than Kevin got," Popovich said. "I'd be disappointed if he didn't feel that way. At this early stage at that position, you've got Malik (Rose), Sean Marks, Robert Horry and Tony all fighting for minutes because Timmy (Duncan) and Rasho (Nesterovic) are going to get a mul ude of minutes.

"There aren't a lot of minutes left, so it's a big war for those guys at those positions. Tony's strength is that he can play four (power forward), but he can also play five (center) in those situations where, in the past, we needed Kevin at five. I think Tony is going to be our guy in that area, obviously.

"I'm just going to put them all in a situation where they can show what they do and whoever is playing best is going to be on the floor."

Massenburg is just happy to be back in San Antonio.

"It's a great city, organization and team. Good people all around ..." he said. "I'm just going to do my best and let things happen. I can control only what I do on the basketball court. If I'm not playing well or somebody else is playing better, it's entirely understandable that I'm not going to play much.

"I want to play well, obviously, and do whatever I can to help this team win."

[timvp]

More than Willis minutes? Massenburg is dreaming. After Rose, Horry and a healthy Marks, Massenburg would be lucky to get Bateer minutes.








P.S.

"We have a great combination of veterans we've brought in," Popovich said. "Brent Barry is a great vet, and I thought, since we weren't going to have Kevin Willis this season, that we needed to have another person in that position, a guy who could lay a little lumber on somebody and who understood how to play the game.

"Tony has been a great professional his whole career and finally, contractually, it worked out to where we had some room to do it. We were happy to be able to bring him in."

This mystery won't die. Why is Kevin Willis gone and why doesn't anyone notice?

[Kori Ellis]

It seems like both parties knew since the time of exit interviews last season that he wasn't coming back. Maybe it was the Devin Brown thing, maybe something else. We'll probably never know.

[Kori Ellis]

And another thing, if Massenburg is the Kevin Willis role and Malik/Horry combine for about the same minutes as last season, then I guess Sean Marks (even if he wasn't injured) would be on IR again. And there doesn't seem to be a need for Thomas at all. I thought maybe (if Marks were healthy) that Malik/Horry/Marks would be active and Mass would be on IR.

[Man Mountain]

Mass needs to lace some double doubles if he has any hope to make the rotation. The preseason is the regular season for this dude.........

[BronxCowboy]

This mystery won't die. Why is Kevin Willis gone and why doesn't anyone notice?

I've been wondering the same thing all along. I suspected he was on the way out when Pop refused to play him more during the semis, but who knows. He certainly would have been better at his role than Massenburg, and there was no need for anyone to compete for more minutes at the 4. Maybe it was the Devin Brown thing like Kori said, or maybe he was out of position a few too many times for Pop, or maybe it was something else. What can you do? At least they picked up an experienced veteran to fill in.

[boutons]

No way TM gets anywhere near double-double from the bench, at his age, esp when his career is 6.5 PPG / 4.5 RPG

[Kori Ellis]

He said that Mass would need to get a few double-doubles in preseason to even get any minutes in the regular rotation in the regular season. He didn't say he was going to average a double-double.

[spur219]

What happened between Kevin Willis and Devin Brown?

[Kori Ellis]

Kevin Willis was horsing around with Devin Brown, picking him up and hurt his ribs. At first they thought the ribs were broken and Devin would have missed the playoffs. But they were just bruised.