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All I can say is FINALLY!!!! some basketball....
Spurs to get rings, hoist championship banner as NBA begins
November 1, 2005
By Chris Bernucca SportsTicker Pro Basketball Editor
BRISTOL, Connecticut (Ticker) - When the NBA's 60th season begins Tuesday night, the San Antonio Spurs will be getting their championship rings while the New Orleans Hornets will be getting acclimated.
The Spurs host the Denver Nuggets and the Hornets face the Sacramento Kings in their new home of Oklahoma City as the season begins with four games.
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Before the Spurs host the Denver Nuggets in a contest televised by TNT, they will receive their rings from NBA commissioner David Stern and hoist their 2005 championship banner to the rafters of the SBC Center.
Led by All-Stars Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, the Spurs outlasted the Detroit Pistons in seven games last June to capture their third le in seven years. All have come under coach Gregg Popovich, who has some new weapons at his disposal.
In the offseason, the Spurs strengthened their bench by adding former All-Stars Michael Finley and Nick Van Exel. They also signed forward Fabricio Oberto, a teammate of Ginobili's on the Argentine squad that won the gold medal at the 2004 Olympics.
"Nick and Mike are both very experienced," Ginobili said. "They have been many places. They are used to winning, too. They have played against us for a long time, so they know how we play and how we won.
"Fabricio is the same but from a little different basketball culture. He has played on many proven winners. He won many championships and he knows what it takes. All three will give us a different aspect of the game and they will help us be better."
The Spurs are virtually everyone's pick to repeat as champions. However, the Nuggets may have something to say about that.
Floundering midway through last season, the Nuggets installed George Karl as coach and went on a 32-8 tear to close the season. They even upset the Spurs in San Antonio in their postseason opener before losing the next four games.
The Nuggets are largely unchanged from last season, boasting a deep frontcourt led by forwards Carmelo Anthony and Kenyon Martin and a small, quick backcourt energized by Andre Miller and Earl Boykins. They are favored to capture the Northwest Division but have their sights set higher than that.
"Hopefully we can go out there and get home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs and take it from there," Nuggets center Marcus Camby said. "I think we have all of the pieces necessary. We're deep across the front line. We're definitely deep in the backcourt."
Right about the same time the Nuggets and Spurs are tipping off, the Hornets will be "hosting" the Sacramento Kings in the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, which will serve as the team's primary home away from home.
The Hornets were 18-64 last season, the worst record in the Western Conference. Their offseason became unimaginably worse August 29 as Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Crescent City and left New Orleans Arena inoperable.
This season, the Hornets are scheduled to play 35 games in Oklahoma City and six in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Having traded center Jamaal Magloire and built their roster with young players featuring rookie point guard Chris Paul, they were not expected to contend for a playoff spot and could be headed for another 60-loss season.
The first of 1,230 regular-season games is in Philadelphia, where the 76ers host the rebuilt Milwaukee Bucks at 7 p.m. EST.
The Bucks had a busy offseason, selecting Australian center Andrew Bogut with the top overall pick in the draft, hiring Terry Stotts as coach, signing NBA Most Improved Player Bobby Simmons as a free agent and acquiring Magloire.
Milwaukee also will welcome back point guard T.J. Ford, who will be playing his first regular-season game since suffering a career-threatening spinal cord injury on February 24, 2004. Ford will be one of the players responsible for trying to slow down four-time scoring champion Allen Iverson of the 76ers, who averaged 45.3 points in four games against the Bucks last season.
The nightcap of TNT's doubleheader is a rematch of last season's Western Conference semifinals between the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns, a pair of run-and-gun clubs that tried to add defense in the offseason.
The Suns dealt away perimeter threats Joe Johnson and Quentin Richardson while bringing in bruisers Kurt Thomas and Brian Grant and tough-minded Raja Bell. However, they also lost All-Star center Amare Stoudemire to microfracture knee surgery until at least February.
The Mavericks closed last season 16-2 under new coach Avery Johnson, who seemed to stress defense more than predecessor Don Nelson. After reverting to their careless defensive ways in a six-game loss to the Suns, they signed guard Doug Christie and center DeSagana Diop, a pair of defense-first players.
"We consciously wanted to bring in guys that were a little bit more on the defensive side of the ball, but there games weren't necessarily broke offensively, because you still have to score the ball," Johnson said.
The Spurs and Suns are the only teams not in action Wednesday, when there are 14 games, including the returns of Phil Jackson as coach of the Los Angeles Lakers in Denver and forward Ron Artest for the Indiana Pacers in Orlando.
All I can say is FINALLY!!!! some basketball....
It's today! It's today!
I think the Spurs will be in a dog fight tonight. They better remember 2003, their last ring ceremony game where they needed a miracle to beat the Suns by 1 point.
I'mm glad I don't have to work at the game tonight so that I could enjoy the game!
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich insisted that after the championship rings were handed out, his players would wipe last season from their memories and think only of the games ahead.
Well, the jewelry was distributed before Tuesday night's opener against Phoenix, and the Spurs seemed to forgot too much too soon.
But with time almost gone, they remembered how to win.
Anthony Carter's offensive rebound with 28 seconds to play lifted the Spurs to an 83-82 victory in a game in which San Antonio trailed by as many as 15 points in the opening minutes and led for a total of 46 seconds.
I'mm glad I don't have to work at the game tonight so that I could enjoy the game!
Hey, whatever gets me there. =)
Besides the restaurant will be near empty by the time the ring ceremony starts. All our peeps have courtside tickets and like to be in their seats. =)
Allen Iverson of the 76ers, who averaged 45.3 points in four games against the Bucks last season.
That's sick........even if it was against the Bucks...
USA Today as 4 or 5 page spread on NBA season. Big article on Spurs, picked to win, yawn.
Being guarded by Michael Redd had something to do with that... the Bucks made a crippling mistake by paying him all that money. He makes George Gervin look like Bruce Bowen and Ron Artest wrapped up into one.
I wanna see the ring!
You work at the SBC Center, angel_luv, in the restaurant...Doing what?
shes the big wig's "personal" entertainer.
Just kidding.
No, I think shes a waitress, right Angel?
In the Terrace Club restaurant?
Will TNT actually show the ceremony?...anyone know?
You have a great gig there...you dating anyone?, you hiring?
They better otherwise they suck balls. I dont see why not.
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