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what a Spurs homer!
Now watch the Grizz kick the Spurs into the Mississippi tonight!
Spurs build team that's turned into NBA model
Grizzlies set for rematch with well-oiled machine
By Ronald Tillery
January 16, 2006
www.commercialappeal.com
The only things missing were a driveway and portable basket given the way Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan worked over the Grizzlies a couple of days ago.
Big brother always seems to have a trick up his sleeve whenever the upstart youngster gets too close.
So when Ginobili daringly lobbed an inbounds pass from near midcourt and found Duncan creeping away from Pau Gasol for a game-winning alley-oop layup, it was another reminder of how the San Antonio Spurs routinely manage to step away from the Grizzlies and the rest of the Western Conference pack.
Big Brother?
Yep, that is true in terms of the Spurs acting as a model franchise that teams want to emulate and someday overcome.
Give the Spurs an inch, and they will take away a would-be sure victory.
Give the Spurs low draft picks, and they'll mine until the digging tool taps Ginobili and Tony Parker.
Give the Spurs room to operate below the salary-cap cap, and they'll lure coveted free agents.
Give the Spurs an offseason when they're ability to spend is on par with everyone else, and the free agents flock anyway.
"They have set a standard and maintained this level of success and doing it in a very first-class manner," said Griz coach Mike Fratello, whose team meets the Spurs tonight for the second time in three days. "Small market or big market -- the only difference is the commitment from ownership. There are other small markets where the owner spends money and the team (i.e. the Grizzlies) has been successful. That's what it comes down to -- the commitment from ownership and decision-making from the front office and coaching staff."
Undoubtedly, the Griz won't be in awe of the defending NBA Champions. They want to beat the Spurs. The Griz also want to be the Spurs, and have patterned their roster-building to fit a formula that works in San Antonio.
In other words: To be the best you have to believe in what the best is doing.
"Why not?" New Jersey Nets guard Jason Kidd said. "Why not try to be like Detroit or San Antonio or one of the elite teams like Miami. Why not try to be like those guys?"
Take the Phoenix Suns for example. The Suns' off-season blueprint was designed to reload and make a run at the Spurs. Phoenix traded Quentin Richardson and the draft rights to Nate Robinson to New York for Kurt Thomas and the draft rights to Dijon Thompson in order to get tougher inside and become a better rebounding team.
The Suns also signed Raja Bell as a free agent to limit the opposition's shooting guard like Ginobili. Then, Phoenix lost free agent Michael Finley, who picked San Antonio and bolstered a deep, experienced Spurs team that had added Nick Van Exel only days earlier.
"I thought we had a good chance, I really thought he'd come," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "But he went with the champions, and I can't argue with that. He went with the odds-on favorites."
Suns point guard Steve Nash even delivered an unsolicited reference to the Spurs just 25 games into the season.
"You can't expect the world," Nash said. "I'm sure a lot of people felt we'd be 10-15 instead of 15-10, but if you ask me we should be 17-8 or 18-7. We lost some very winnable home games, or we're right with San Antonio."
Or Detroit, which has established itself as the class of the Eastern Conference with Spurs-like attributes: Strong guard play and proficiency from a skilled power forward. Indiana general manager Larry Bird's stated preference is to develop a Pacers team that more closely fits the European style, as Detroit and San Antonio do.
"They're tied in, they play together, they go for the wins," Bird said. "I'd love our team to do that."
Over the past eight seasons the Spurs have not had the luxury of drafting in the top 10 but that hasn't prevented the franchise from unparalleled success. The Spurs' roster has only one player who was drafted in the top 10. They took Duncan with the first pick in the 1997 draft but the franchise has only drafted six players in the top 10.
"It takes some luck," Griz swingman Shane Battier said. "But a lot of it is hard work and scouting. There is luck involved but if you're good at what you do you can build through the draft as well."
Their modern-day fortune is seen in the talents of The Big Three -- Duncan, Parker and Ginobili -- draft picks.
Since Duncan joined the Spurs the team has enjoyed the best winning percentage of any team in the four major sports during that nine-year span. During the Duncan Era the Spurs have made a habit of shutting down opponents and finishing at or near the top in several defensive categories.
The Spurs are second only to the Griz on defense this season, holding opponents to 88.8 points per game.
In Memphis, the Grizzlies' defensive mantra goes according to the beat of Fratello's drum. If it's true that any real team truly takes on the iden y of its coach, then the Spurs could be summed up by two words:
Gregg Popovich.
"They have tremendous trust and faith in him," Fratello said of the Spurs' head coach. "And the record speaks for itself. You look at the consistency and the type of people they've brought in there ... It exemplifies what you'd like to have."
what a Spurs homer!
Now watch the Grizz kick the Spurs into the Mississippi tonight!
Last edited by boutons_; 01-16-2006 at 03:40 PM.
Very complimentary article. Maybe I'm too cynical but I found this statment very funny:
Well, if it's true that any real team truly takes on the identify of its coach, then the Pistons could be summed up by two words: Flip Saunders?
Or, the Suns can be summed up by two words: Mike D'Antoni?
Etc., etc.
I think the writer is trying to come across something grand, but if you actually look at it, it's just silly.
Newbies Flip and Mike haven't built their franchises player by player the way Pop has.
It's Tim's team, but it's Pop organization.
Well, then it ISN'T necessarily true that any real team takes on the iden y of it's coach, is what you're saying.
the article tries to give positive insights to the spurs...how they are still team to beat etc...but it still doesnt give me that much comfort seeing how they played games this week...the team still has a lot of aspects to improve like rebounding, FT...hope we could see it tonight ..good luck on the gamego spurs go!!!!
The well-oiled machine has been sputtering of late. The Spurs need this win, they need to know that they can come in and beat a good team on their homecourt. Win or lose they have to give a compe ive effort like the Grizz did here. I have no doubt in my mind that the Grizzlies are as confident of beating the Spurs as they were Sat. night. This team has to start establishing it's iden y, and it's defense. I hope it's a good game and that they show up with some energy and intensity.
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