"Neal latest unsung hero for Spurs" FoxSports story

[TIMMYD!]

Horrible comparison. Gibson is a grown man with repeated incidences and Neal was just a kid. You are taking something he did when he was 19 and using it to define him as a person now. If there were routine reports of him being a womanizer like Rothlisberger then I could understand where you are coming from, but to crucify him on one incident where he was both not fully mature and intoxicated doesn't make much sense.

+1. Can't define the personality of a player by something they did at a young age, years ago.

[JonNOKC]

Horrible comparison. Gibson is a grown man with repeated incidences and Neal was just a kid. You are taking something he did when he was 19 and using it to define him as a person now. If there were routine reports of him being a womanizer like Rothlisberger then I could understand where you are coming from, but to crucify him on one incident where he was both not fully mature and intoxicated doesn't make much sense.

100% correct

[duncan228]

Honeymoon not over for Spurs’ Neal
Jeff McDonald

...“It’s been like a dream,” Neal said. “It’s taken a lot of work to get here. I want to be a guy who sticks around.”

http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursna...e2%80%99-neal/

[stealthjbravo]

Every person decides his or her criteria for which players, actors, and musicians for whom he or she will root and support. Some people still attend Mel Gibson movies and can separate what he has done and said personally from what he does artistically. Others do not. For me, what Neal did is beyond the line. I am not talking about a legal case and whether or not he was found guilty. I am talking about his admitted personal actions. They are too offensive for me to look past and become a fan of his basketball game. Others can, and that is their choice. It is also my prerogative not to, as well.

choo-choo

[DMC]

choo-choo

stealthjbravo has not made any friends yet

[ploto]

I am not defining him as a person. Nowhere did I do this. Nowhere did I judge the kind of life he lives now at all. I am simply stating that there are certain actions that preclude me from ever being a fan of someone. For me, this crosses that line. I was never a fan of Ron Mercer or Chauncey Billups either. As a woman, I will not look past certain actions simply because someone can play a sport.

[stealthjbravo]

stealthjbravo has not made any friends yet

I thought we bonded last night.

[mingus]

I wish so much it could be anyone but him. I just can not look at the guy and root for him.

you do root for him because you root for the team and he's a part of the team.

[Cessation]

People can't accept others differences, nothing new here.

[benefactor]

I am not defining him as a person.

As a woman, I will not look past certain actions simply because someone can play a sport.

[smrattler]

... but to crucify him on one incident where he was both not fully mature and intoxicated doesn't make much sense.

All we have to do is look at ourselves when we were teenagers and drunk. How many things did we participate in that were bad decisions, judgements, immature, and plain stupid risks that nobody knows about?

How different would people look at you if they knew some of that and would it be fair? Does that stuff in your youth define who you are today?

[Spurminator]

Ploto's en led to her opinion.

I like redemption stories myself. Regardless of how you feel about what he did, it's not like he came out of it with no bruises. He did his time, so to speak.

[Mark in Austin]

All we have to do is look at ourselves when we were teenagers and drunk.

To be fair, it should be pointed out that not everybody was a drunk teenager. Some people have more common sense / self control than others. If a person decides they can't support an athlete because of his past actions, that is totally within their rights to do so.

Everybody has to draw the line of who to support, and to what extent, based on what they are comfortable with.

[jjktkk]

To be fair, it should be pointed out that not everybody was a drunk teenager. Some people have more common sense / self control than others. If a person decides they can't support an athlete because of his past actions, that is totally within their rights to do so.

Everybody has to draw the line of who to support, and to what extent, based on what they are comfortable with.

+1. Well said.

[smrattler]

To be fair, it should be pointed out that not everybody was a drunk teenager. Some people have more common sense / self control than others. If a person decides they can't support an athlete because of his past actions, that is totally within their rights to do so.

Everybody has to draw the line of who to support, and to what extent, based on what they are comfortable with.

Thanks for telling me so many things I didn't know.

[awktalk]

Wonder how Splitter feels sitting on the bench and seeing a (much less accomplished) rookie get so many minutes while he piles up DNPs - Coach's decision.

Splitter's over his injuries. Popovich needs to play him so he'll be ready for the playoffs and the Lakers if Blair bombs and when Bonner chokes. Doesn't hurt to have more options.

Or maybe Pop understands that Splitter is not fit for this league. He has absolutely no offensive skills that you could draw up a play for. His defense on 4s and 5s is so soft because he's a twig. His only positive attribute is junkman, to clean up misses and pull down easy defensive boards. The dude is a tool and will never be anything more unless he bulks up 30 LBs and learns to shoot outside of 6 feet.

[benefactor]

To be fair, it should be pointed out that not everybody was a drunk teenager. Some people have more common sense / self control than others. If a person decides they can't support an athlete because of his past actions, that is totally within their rights to do so.

Everybody has to draw the line of who to support, and to what extent, based on what they are comfortable with.

You are right...everyone was not. But in the same breath it's pretty unfair to judge anyone because they were, regardless whether or not they are a sports athlete. When my brother was 18, he picked a girl at the club that was on several different drugs and took her back to his house. I was there, and I can tell you that she had know idea where she was for the better part of the evening. He took her to the back room anyway and had sex with her.

My brother is now in his 30's and is married with two kids. His a faithful, loving husband and a good provider. He would give the shirt of his back to you if you legitimately needed it. Would it be fair to him if those who knew about this incident in his past to judge him for it now?

[Mark in Austin]

You are right...everyone was not. But in the same breath it's pretty unfair to judge anyone because they were, regardless whether or not they are a sports athlete. When my brother was 18, he picked a girl at the club that was on several different drugs and took her back to his house. I was there, and I can tell you that she had know idea where she was for the better part of the evening. He took her to the back room anyway and had sex with her.

My brother is now in his 30's and is married with two kids. His a faithful, loving husband and a good provider. He would give the shirt of his back to you if you legitimately needed it. Would it be fair to him if those who knew about this incident in his past to judge him for it now?

Current behavior doesn't make up for past actions. We are all responsible for what we do and the mistakes we make. Your brother might be a great person now, but that doesn't change what he did in the past. You might have your together too, but that doesn't change the fact that (according to you own post) you stood by and did nothing while you brother had sex with a girl without her consent.

[Mark in Austin]

Or maybe Pop understands that Splitter is not fit for this league. He has absolutely no offensive skills that you could draw up a play for. His defense on 4s and 5s is so soft because he's a twig. His only positive attribute is junkman, to clean up misses and pull down easy defensive boards. The dude is a tool and will never be anything more unless he bulks up 30 LBs and learns to shoot outside of 6 feet.

Fail. Splitter has great instincts on both sides of the ball, particularly in PnR sets. Just listen to how Sean Elliott raves about him.

[Chico]

"I’m supposed to shoot threes in the corner and I do." That one made me laugh..

[SenorSpur]

The Spurs latest victory over the Mavs has been met with some perspective, by the locals, mainly because of the absence of Dirk. However, it seems that the latest buzz around this game has been about Gary Neal.

For those who aren't privy to the temperature of SportsTalk here in the D/FW metroplex, the latest musings on the Spurs from the locals go something like this:

"Well it looks like the Spurs have done it again."

"I've never heard of this guy Gary Neal"

"Who is this new rookie?"

"Where the did this guy come from?"

"First Hill, then Blair, now this new kid Neal"

[benefactor]

Current behavior doesn't make up for past actions. We are all responsible for what we do and the mistakes we make. Your brother might be a great person now, but that doesn't change what he did in the past. You might have your together too, but that doesn't change the fact that (according to you own post) you stood by and did nothing while you brother had sex with a girl without her consent.

So mistakes you make at 16 or 18 should be held against you today. Got it.

Do us all a favor and don't have any children.

[duncan228]

How NBA contenders handle their depth
By MIKE FISHER
FOXSportsSouthwest.com | DallasBasketball.com

It is not the sport itself, but the marketing contrivances of the NBA – Christmas Day was promoted as "LeBron vs. Kobe" with little bother for the other schlubs in baggy shorts – that creates the illusion that basketball is about the individuals, like golf or wrestling or chess.

This is messianic bluster that can apply on a particular possession or even in a slightly larger slice of basketball life. But it doesn't get the best teams in the NBA through the 82-game grind.

That's where depth becomes a necessity, screwing up the mano-a-mano mirage as it does.

Here's a ranking of how the top contending teams are faring when it's time for someone beside their marquee guys to share the stage:

1. SAN ANTONIO SPURS: His name is Gary Neal.

He played college basketball at Towson and at LaSalle. He is an undrafted rookie. He is a 6-foot-4 combo guard. He is 26, having banged around professional basketball in Turkey and Spain and Italy.

And then he showed up for the Spurs' Summer League team, dazzled, and got himself a three-year contract.

Now he's averaging 8.5 points per game, including scoring 21 on Thursday to help the Spurs beat Dallas.

This is how the Spurs do it. Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, of course, are the foundation of the club that possesses the league's best record. But the Spurs do it in other ways, too.

His name is Gary Neal.

*********************

The rest of the contenders, hit the link for the write-ups.

2. Boston Celtics
3. Los Angeles Lakers
4. Miami Heat
5. Chicago Bulls
6. Dallas Mavericks

http://www.foxsportssouthwest.com/01...85&feedID=3742

[Agloco]

I wish so much it could be anyone but him. I just can not look at the guy and root for him.

Sounds like something to take up with the woman in the mirror tbh.

[ace3g]

http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursna...e2%80%99-neal/

lol at the photo they used for that headline