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Check ball.
You guys ready?
I am.
Let's roll.
San Antonio Express-News
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/s....212f6718.html
If the Texas-Oklahoma football game is a week away, it can mean only one thing to the Spurs: It's time to pack for training camp.
Yeah, it's only Oct. 1 and we're not even midway through football season, but it won't be long before we see Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili playing at the SBC Center.
The Spurs start preseason workouts Tuesday in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Duncan's homeland. They play their first exhibition game in Miami against the Heat on Oct. 10, two days after the UT-OU game.
After winning three of the last seven NBA les, San Antonio will be a lot of folks' choice to repeat as champion. That's no profound observation, I know, but still worth noting when one considers how far the franchise has come in the past 30 years.
Spurs fans can't get enough of their team now, but remember the days when a lot of folks in these parts were skeptical of the franchise's chances of surviving in this football-crazy city?
The Spurs won it all last season and, considering their free-agent acquisitions in the offseason, should be even better in 2005-06.
That San Antonio was able to sign Nick Van Exel and Michael Finley, two big-time scorers who can take over a game, speaks volumes of what players around the league think of the franchise.
"It's a real credit not only to what the Spurs have done on the floor, but to an organization that is so respected all over the league," said Bob Bass, a coach and executive with the Spurs for 20 years before joining the Charlotte Hornets' front office in 1995. "Players want to play here."
Bass said he wasn't surprised the Spurs were able to sign Finley, although he could have made more money elsewhere.
"After players have been in the league 10, 11 years and made their fortune, and they get a shot at winning a championship, they'll take it," Bass, 76, said. "These players put so much importance on winning a ring."
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich's biggest challenge will be working Finley and Van Exel into the team's system. They are two guys who aren't accustomed to playing secondary roles.
"If all the players buy in, the Spurs have got a great chance to be really good," Bass said.
The Spurs pride themselves in playing unselfish ball, and their success this season will hinge on team chemistry more than ever.
Popovich, a no-nonsense guy, always has done a masterful job of keeping his players focused on team, not individual, goals. That's why, barring a serious injury to Duncan, San Antonio will repeat as NBA champion.
"Can you imagine a team with Finley, Van Exel and Robert Horry coming off the bench?" Bass said. "That's an awesome situation to be in."
Bass, who has followed the NBA closely since retiring in June 2004, likes San Antonio's chances of winning back-to-back les for the first time in the Duncan era. He looks for Miami, Indiana or Detroit to win the Eastern Conference le.
Duncan is the leader of a team that can beat down an opponent in a lot of different ways. To hear Bass tell it, the Spurs are one of the more versatile NBA teams he has seen.
He pointed to how San Antonio ran so effectively in its lopsided series against high-scoring Phoenix in the Western Conference finals, and then played equally well in a grind-it-out struggle against Detroit in the finals.
"Is that what you call a basketball marvel?" Bass said. "What team can play different styles from one week to the next — and be as successful as the Spurs?"
While Bass said the Spurs have the players who can play at any pace, he gave Popovich most of the credit.
"He's shown he can adjust to whatever situation," Bass said.
Remember the days when Spurs fans didn't think Popovich had a clue when it came to making adjustments? Amazing what players such as Duncan, Ginobili and Robert Horry will do for a coach's rep.
Bass was executive vice president of basketball operations for nine years with the Hornets, who moved to New Orleans in 2002. He and his wife, Pat, returned to San Antonio after he retired.
Bass doesn't go to Spurs home games, but he watches the team and the rest of the NBA on TV.
"I just love basketball," he said in an understatement.
He also has forgotten more about the game that a lot of other coaches ever will know.
That's why it's always interesting to get his take.
Check ball.
You guys ready?
I am.
Let's roll.
It's time to get GAME ON!!!
Bob Bass.
A GM who could get a good player, then get antsy and have to trade them the next offseason.
Good riddance.
Lets Get IT ON!!!!! Yeah GET SOME ...
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